James Rodriguez has a career that travels all over the world from Argentina, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, England to Qatar, Greece and Brazil. The Colombian international is quite adaptable to every culture except Qatar.

In an interview on Globo Esporte, the midfielder currently playing for Sao Paulo recalled his miserable time playing for Al Rayyan (2021-2022).

“Qatar culture is very difficult to integrate. It’s a country where adapting is much more difficult than I imagined,” James Rodriguez shared.

“Football is like that everywhere, in the locker room the players take off all their clothes and take a shower. But in Qatar, my teammates forbade me to do that. They told me: “No, you can’t keep being stubborn like that.”

Off the field, James Rodriguez also faces many more difficulties in daily life in the Muslim country.

“They all eat with their hands. That was very difficult for me. I asked them if they had a knife and fork but they refused and told me to eat with my hands. I replied, “You’re crazy, I can’t eat with my hands,” James recalled.

The Colombian midfielder only appeared 16 times during his time with Al Rayyan, scoring 5 goals.

After leaving Qatar, James moved to Olimpiacos and then landed in Sao Paulo from July 2023. The 32-year-old has scored 1 goal in 12 matches in the Brazilian championship this season.

James Rodriguez emerged from the 2014 World Cup and spent four seasons with Real Madrid before joining Bayern. The skillful left-handed midfielder is still the mainstay of the Colombian national team with 93 caps and 27 goals.