Neymar impressed by "excellent" James Rodriguez

Neymar has elected to lavish the in-form James Rodriguez with praise ahead of the quarter-final between Brazil and Colombia on Friday night.

Rodriguez has scored five times for Colombia in their four successive victories at the World Cup, and Neymar admits that he is impressed by how the young Monaco star has delivered his best on the international stage.

"I knew he] was a great player before all this, and he's been showing all his talent in this cup," the Barcelona forward told reporters.

"Colombia are a great team, they've been winning a lot, showing very strong power during the matches. James is an excellent player - he's a star, although he's very young, 22 like myself.

"He's been showing the great player that he is and we have to congratulate him for everything he's done."

The winner of the meeting in Fortaleza will face either Germany or France in the semi-final.