Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Figueroa and Union La Calera agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Matías Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Kevin Fernández arrives at Union La Calera with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Alexander Pastene leaves Union La Calera the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Union La Calera have had the benefit of it.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joaquín Alvear and Union La Calera agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Franco Lobos’s exile
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Molina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
SquadMatías Ríos has become a man the manager trusts
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Ríos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Matías Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Lucas Molina falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Union La Calera will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Matías Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matías Campos López trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Ríos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Avellaneda and Union La Calera agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlo Villanueva and Union La Calera agree another 3 years.
In brief
SquadLucas Molina falls out with a teammate over standards
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Franco Lobos’s exile
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Union La Calera, and 3 appearances in 37 say he has earned the hearing.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Pierre Ménard is living that version at Union La Calera, and it tends to show in the first month.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Union La Calera have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Bayron Oyarzo
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Bayron Oyarzo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Union La Calera have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Molina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Bayron Oyarzo has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bayron Oyarzo. 2‑0 against Universidad de Concepcion, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yerko Leiva, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Bayron Oyarzo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nelson Espinoza and Union La Calera agree another 2 years.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Union La Calera, another week without a signature from Matías Ríos.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Ríos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
2 goals in 24 games at Santiago Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Union La Calera updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Union La Calera spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
In brief
Player ratingsCamilo Moya spends the afternoon fouling
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The chase for Lucas Molina ended with $370.0K changing hands and Universidad de Concepcion out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Lucas Molina from Universidad de Concepcion for $370.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Molina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Ríos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Javier Saldías will want back
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chase for José Sanhueza ended with $120.0K changing hands and Universidad de Concepcion out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Saldías is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Universidad Catolica go through and Union La Calera go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Ríos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Antofagasta defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Francisco Pozzo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Axel Encinas and Union La Calera agree another 4 years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Union La Calera game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Cobresal runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Universidad de Chile? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Nobody at Union La Calera will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Union La Calera have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Francisco Pozzo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Union La Calera can tell you which week it ends in.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Union La Calera told Francisco Pozzo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Saldías is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Union La Calera game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Cobresal runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Saldías is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Vicente Rojas has his answer from Union La Calera; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Avellaneda and Union La Calera agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Francisco Pozzo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Union La Calera have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Matías Campos López scored in the 87th minute, Antofagasta had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Union La Calera took the lot.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Union La Calera, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francisco Pozzo. 2‑1 against Colo-Colo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Joan Cruz has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Bayron Oyarzo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Francisco Sanchez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gonzalo Aranguiz has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Matias Meneses has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ivan Diaz is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Ríos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Matías Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matías Ríos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Union La Calera, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. San Marcos de Arica moved on, Matías Ríos reports back to Union La Calera, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Union La Calera can pretend not to have heard.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from Universidad Catolica for Yerko Leiva was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
O'Higgins will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Joaquín Escobar has pre-agreed a move to Union La Calera, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexander Pastene and Union La Calera agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Union La Calera could ask drops and the wages Alexander Pastene can ask rise.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union La Calera will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Union La Calera have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMatías Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Union La Calera, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Union La Calera will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Nelson Espinoza has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Matías Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Union La Calera has been clear about where Diego Martínez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Union La Calera the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yerko Leiva. 1‑0 against Union Espanola, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Union La Calera have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Nicolás Avellaneda: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nicolás Avellaneda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Joan Cruz. 1‑0 against Universidad de Concepcion, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Still no offer on the table, and Rodrigo Cáseres’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Union La Calera have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Nicolás Avellaneda has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Avellaneda and Union La Calera agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union La Calera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Axel Encinas has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matías Campos López. 1‑0 against Cobresal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.69 on the card, and the Union La Calera support went home talking about one name.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Matías Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.