Marked for André
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad3 Jul 2028
André signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” André commits to Depor for another 4 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
32 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Riascos 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
90% of the income goes out in wages at Depor
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Jun 2028
Depor are in real trouble now
Position 10, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market26 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Depor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Jun 2028
André out for 24 days
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for André, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 May 2028
No end in sight to Depor's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Depor has to find a result from somewhere.
Match29 May 2028
Depor sink to position 11
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market29 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Depor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 May 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 May 2028
André out for 55 days
The medical room confirms 55 days on the sidelines for André, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad29 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 May 2028
The goals have deserted Depor
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Depor can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Nobody could get near André
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match27 May 2028
Depor come up short against Leones
Leones left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 May 2028
The wait goes on for Depor
11 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.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Nobody could get near André
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad22 May 2028
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Ronaldo Royero will call it something else in private.
Squad22 May 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Depor told Ronaldo Royero something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
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Match
Point won or two lost for Depor?
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Player ratings
Yovany García spends the afternoon fouling
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 May 2028
The wait goes on for Depor
9 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.
Match3 May 2028
The cup run ends for Depor
1‑4 against America de Cali, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces8 May 2028
Depor are taken apart by America de Cali — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Boardroom8 May 2028
An order from above at Depor: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Riascos 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.
Boardroom8 May 2028
Inquest at Depor
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Match6 May 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad8 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Stiwar Veira
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Depor
4 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Universitario Popayan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Riascos 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Eder Balanta
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Depor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Riascos 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.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Nobody could get near André
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Too much change too quickly at Depor
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Match25 Mar 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Valledupar leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad27 Mar 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Depor
Jhonier Alomía 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
Deportes Quindio left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Eraso 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces13 Mar 2028
Depor supporters have found a favourite in André
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. André 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was André’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Depor.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Palacios 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ronaldo Royero, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
André stands above it all
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.89 on the card, and the Depor support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Mar 2028
Every point is an argument now for Depor
Position 10 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market6 Mar 2028
“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 Depor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match4 Mar 2028
7 matches without a win for Depor
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Depor are no longer polite ones.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrés Rivera and Depor agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
José Palacios 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
Faisal Al-Juhani damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Match19 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Depor's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Depor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of José Palacios
“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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
André runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Yovany García 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Feb 2028
Faisal Al-Juhani damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
André runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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.
Match12 Feb 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yovany García 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alejandro Oñate has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Depor.
Market14 Feb 2028
Experience through the door at Depor
Faisal Al-Juhani arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Market14 Feb 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Depor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Feb 2028
Faisal Al-Juhani damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Gabriel Eraso: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Depor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The Depor board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad7 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Feb 2028
0‑1 to Alianza Petrolera, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Samuel Copete
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Samuel Copete has come out of that comparison in the side, and Depor have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A move Rodrigo Cordeiro would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rodrigo Cordeiro is living that version at Depor, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match29 Jan 2028
Depor come up short against Bogota
Bogota left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
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Squad
5 new faces, and Depor are still learning each other
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Player ratings
André runs at them all day
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Market
Depor shop where it costs nothing
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Depor
Jhonier Alomía 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.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Graduation day at Depor
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The terraces24 Jan 2028
The crowd has taken to André
At 22 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Francisco Falcao 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mateo Borja 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Brian Sinisterra 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gustavo Ramirez 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.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
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Squad
Yovany García falls out with a teammate over standards
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Boardroom
Depor turn down the training-ground plan
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Squad
A Depor teenager takes the young player award
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Jhonier Julio
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhonier Julio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Depor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
86% of the income goes out in wages at Depor
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
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Squad
The manager makes an example of David Agudelo
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Squad
A season on the outside for André
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
Jean Rentería breaks a bone — 49 days out
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.
Match29 May 2027
Cruel end for Tigres as Depor pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Depor scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings31 May 2027
No sign of nerves from André at 21 — 7.94
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. André did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad31 May 2027
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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 terraces31 May 2027
The crowd has taken to André
At 21 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.
Match29 May 2027
Tigres made Depor work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Saavedra 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.
Squad31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alejandro Oñate, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Defensive actions: 12, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Jean Rentería out for 57 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Depor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match22 May 2027
8 matches without a win for Depor
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Depor are no longer polite ones.
Match22 May 2027
5 matches without a goal for Depor
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Depor
Jhonier Alomía 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 terraces24 May 2027
At 22 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Marked 7.37 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Depor had the best player on the pitch.
Squad24 May 2027
Yovany García 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.
Squad24 May 2027
One booking too many, and Jhonier Alomía sits out. Depor lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Nobody could get near André
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
Jean Rentería breaks a bone — 79 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match1 May 2027
5 matches without a win for Depor
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Depor are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom3 May 2027
An order from above at Depor: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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.
Match1 May 2027
A bad afternoon for Depor against Bogota
0‑2 to Bogota, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Saavedra 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Jean Rentería out for 93 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Depor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Apr 2027
1‑2 to Barranquilla, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Diego Jaramillo, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Restrepo 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Depor were going nowhere until he came on.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Jean Rentería out for 109 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Depor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Depor
Jhonier Alomía 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
6 unbeaten for Depor
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Depor did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Restrepo 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
André runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Andrés Rivera named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Andrés Rivera is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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 terraces29 Mar 2027
The crowd has taken to André
At 21 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Depor get the job done against Leones
A 1‑0 win over Leones, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Gabriel Eraso 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad29 Mar 2027
David Agudelo dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Santiago Saavedra 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Jerónimo Barrera asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match20 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Alianza Petrolera will be the happier side with the point.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 9. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
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Player ratings
André ran the game
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Player ratings
Fabián Villa spends the afternoon fouling
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
André runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Gabriel Eraso 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
Chastening afternoon for Depor
A 0‑3 beating by Llaneros was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match20 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Depor
4 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
The goals have deserted Depor
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Depor can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Depor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Eraso 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the Depor dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A mark of 4.39 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near André
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Player ratings
Fabián Villa spends the afternoon fouling
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Depor
Andrés Rivera 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market21 Dec 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Depor will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Depor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan David Aguilar 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. André is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A season on the outside for André
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Depor has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.