Steven Alzate has been advised to keep things simple as he gets used to life as a trans-Atlantic international footballer.

Don’t complicate matters. Just think about the next match, the next training session.

That was the message from his club boss Graham Potter as the midfielder landed from the USA following his Colombia debut.

Go home and concentrate on your club football, shine on the pitch.

That is the guidance from Colombia boss Carlos Queiroz as he looks to the start of World Cup qualifiers in March.

But not everything is simple when a boy from Camden goes across to play for the South American nation of his parents.

When he finds himself wearing the prestigious No.10 shirt for Los Cafeteros watched by the eyes of a nation less than three months after making a senior Albion debut in front of 6,000 at Bristol Rovers.

That much has been proved over the last few days after Alzate was picked to start for Colombia in their friendly against Ecuador at 1am on Wednesday, our time.

Alzate had already made his debut off the bench versus Peru at the weekend, going on as sub for Juan Cuadrado with the No.7 on his back.

There was no No.7 shirt hanging in the changing room at the Red Bull Arena ahead of the Ecuador match.

Queiroz rotated his squad, gave new faces and fringe players their chance – and put Alzate in the No.10.

The Argus:

A pretty superficial change on the face of it. Or maybe not.

The ten is the shirt worn by James Rodriguez, the darling of Colombian football.

James had left the group by that stage due to injury.

Alzate was handed his number but not his role or responsibility as he played wide of centre in a three-man midfield.

Potter had not seen the Ecuador match as he spoke to the media yesterday and did not know Alzate had been given the hallowed shirt.

“No pressure,” he said jokingly when informed. But he was interested to hear that was the case.

All of which possibly led to differing perspectives on how Alzate did on that first international start.

To a large extent, he did what he does for Albion. Took the ball in tight areas, moved it on neatly, looked to create spaces for others.

That was what caught the eye of, among others, well-known South American football correspondent Tim Vickery.

From his base in Rio de Janeiro, Vickery offers a range of media outlets news and opinion on football across his adopted continent.

Asked by talkSport who had impressed him in all of the latest round of international matches, the first name Vickery mentioned in a positive light was Alzate.

He later told The Argus he “liked the way he kept it ticking over” as the Colombians moved the ball.

Queiroz spoke of Alzate’s “calm, confidence and quality” after the Ecuador game.

Yet feedback from Colombia was not so favourable – and the fact he wore ten and came from the Premier League might have played a part in that.

“He looked nervous in the first half,” ESPN Deportes reporter Carlos Zafra told The Argus.

“Various balls got away from him and there were a few bad passes.

“He needed to take more risks but he is young and is just starting.

“It looks like Queiroz has faith because he played him the whole match.

“He had James’s shirt number but his type is very different.

“I think this probably was on the minds of the supporters, that he had the No.10.

“They were waiting and expecting him to play like James. Maybe the same thing happened to him, that he might have felt a bit more under pressure.

“But he didn’t have a bad game. The way the team functioned as a group wasn’t the best in either match.

“I wouldn’t even say he disappointed. It was just that maybe we expected more, because he has quality and is intelligent and, above all, people were starting to believe he was the new James. That could have worked against him.

“He is very young, He has to understand he is Alzate, with his own style - and a style not very common among Colombian.”

Chances are Alzate knows that already. It is others who need to get used to the fact.

Zafra said: “He steps into both penalty areas, he sacrifices himself and always does the simple thing and that is not very common in Colombia.”

He might have hit the nail on the head there. Alzate can provide a rare, if not unique, mix of cultures.

In the national team, he can add some English style graft and direction to the intricate football.

In the Premier League, he has a first touch, tight control and willingness to take the ball when marked that, down the years, has not been a big part of our footballing culture.

You ask for the ball when you are in space, not when you have a marker closing on you, as Alzate did to start the memorable move which brought the decisive own goal against Everton.

Play your football “in the right areas” as we love to say.

Alzate can offer the best of both worlds if he continues making progress. That is the key now. Building on a stunning start, coping with any plateau in form and learning to live with expectation and demands.

Potter said: “He is just starting out, regardless of anything, in terms of his experience in the Premier League and his experience in international football.

“What he has to do is keep it quite simple.

“Focus on the next training session, focus on the next match, try and improve.

“Don’t try and think too much about stuff.

“As quickly as things go there (on the up), they can go the other way as well. That is the reality of football.

“As I have said before, he is a level-headed guy. Nothing fazes him at all.

“He is a good boy who just wants to get better.

“He is grateful for the opportunity, he is humble, he has all the attributes, from a personal quality, which means he has got a chance.

“Maybe we can have a better conversation when he has played 50 matches.

“Then you can have a better idea of the level of the player.”