Rodriguez trying to steal Neymar's spotlight

Brazil's Neymar (front) reacts as his team celebrates their penalty shootout win against Chile after their 2014 World Cup round of 16 game at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, June 28, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Brazil has not looked especially convincing and Neymar has been enough of a standalone star to lead to suggestions that while this is not a one-man team, the hosts would be drastically less effective without him.

Imagine the national panic in this soccer-mad nation then, when thigh and knee injuries sustained against Chile in the round of 16 put him in doubt for the quarterfinal clash with Colombia. The fears were ultimately unfounded and Neymar will start, in what is perhaps the biggest game of his career so far.

For Colombia, it all revolves similarly around Rodriguez, who has scored five of his team's 11 goals to sit one ahead of Neymar and Argentina's Lionel Messi as the tournament's top scorer.

The impact Rodriguez has made has been enough to make people forget all about Rademel Falcao, the star Colombian forward who missed the World Cup because of injury.

Friday's clash is one of the toughest to predict in the tournament. For neutral observers, it is a serious shame that one of these fine talents will be lost to the World Cup by the time the weekend starts.

The world already knows about Neymar's flashiness and brilliance, but it's entranced by whether he can carry his country to the title on home soil that it so craves.

For Rodriguez, who soon might be popular enough that his surname is never even used, everyone wants to know a little more. Fame is in his future and another huge move to a club like Real Madrid or even alongside Neymar at Barcelona may not be far away.

If he can win this battle of the photogenic soccer heavyweights, it could happen sooner rather than later, and for more money.