Maicon: “At Porto we used to say James Rodríguez was a PlayStation player”

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·3 January 2026

Maicon: “At Porto we used to say James Rodríguez was a PlayStation player”

At 37 years old, Maicon recalls the golden era of FC Porto between 2011 and 2013, during which he was a three-time champion, and highlights the decisive role of James Rodríguez during this period, first with André Villas-Boas as coach (2010/11) and later under the command of Vítor Pereira.

«James is funny, we used to call him the Playstation player. His touch on the ball was like the Playstation. He went six months without playing at FC Porto, just training, the coaching staff worked to prepare him, he only trained, only trained. After he started playing, my friend, to hold him back…», he began to emphasize on the Charla Podcast.

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The central defender, who in 2025 won the Série B with Josué (a former teammate at FC Porto) at Coritiba, mentioned that James didn't even need to exert himself physically to decide games: «We would say: ‘You don't need to fall back, you don't need to run, you don't need to tire yourself out.’ We would give him the ball and he would solve the problem.»

FC Porto was undefeated champion in 2010/11, lost only once in the league the following season, and won the title again without defeats in 2012/13. Maicon keeps alive the memory of the practically unbeatable team from that time.

«Our team was Helton, Fucile as right-back, me, Rolando, and Otamendi, Álvaro Pereira. Belluschi, Guarín, James, Falcao, Hulk, and Varela. How were they going to stop us? We would enter the field and ask by how many we were going to win. I was undefeated champion in Portugal and the following year, with Vítor Pereira, we only lost one game in the league.»

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.