Marked for Jonnier Torres
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the Patriotas board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Patriotas and Fortaleza CEIF have settled on $150.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Patriotas can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Patriotas have done the hard part with Llaneros, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Brayan Fernández 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Kevin Álvarez 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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Tomas Molina
“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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Kevin Rivas is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Patriotas has been clear about where Kevin Rivas stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
Johan Campaña hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Patriotas can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Patriotas
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Patriotas is running low.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Kevin Rivas: 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.” Patriotas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Michael Nike and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan move for Kelvin Flórez is in the works
Patriotas have made the call to Deportes Tolima. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
When it matters, Éder Chaux plays
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 dugout28 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Patriotas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julio Cerpa 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
Upbeat
Player ratings10 May 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.72, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market10 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Carlos Copete
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Copete will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Patriotas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Kevin Salazar pops up at the right end — 7.83
7.83, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad10 May 2027
Michael Nike in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patriotas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 May 2027
Patriotas settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Alianza Petrolera spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Patriotas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Álvarez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kevin Álvarez, and the manager let it.
Squad10 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jonnier Torres and Patriotas agree another 4 years.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Johan Campaña
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Sergio Román knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
“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.
Match3 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Patriotas
Position 10 and 15 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.
Squad3 May 2027
8 saves: Éder Chaux was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Patriotas
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Patriotas is running low.
Squad3 May 2027
Brayan Fernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 May 2027
Éder Munive gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Patriotas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Álvarez 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonnier Torres and Patriotas agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 May 2027
When it matters, Éder Chaux plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout26 Apr 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Up for the corner, and Freyn Macleyn delivers — 7.72
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Freyn Macleyn scored, was marked 7.72, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Patriotas
Brayan Fernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match24 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Freyn Macleyn. 2‑1 against Llaneros, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Sebastián Moreno 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Wilmar Arias kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 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 Patriotas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Cali have kept their man, and Patriotas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
When it matters, Éder Chaux plays
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Patriotas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julio Cerpa 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Michael Nike keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Patriotas say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes Sergio Román a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Patriotas. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market11 Jan 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Patriotas have let the market know Junior Rangel can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Patriotas board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Patriotas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Patriotas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Patriotas
Brayan Fernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sebastián Moreno commits to Patriotas for another 4 years.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Iván Camacho
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Patriotas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonnier Torres 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
No place for Kevin Rivas in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Patriotas are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Freyn Macleyn 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Patriotas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brayan Fernández 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kevin Álvarez, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Jonnier Torres 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Patriotas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Patriotas have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Patriotas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patriotas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kevin Álvarez and Patriotas agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market19 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alexander Carabalí has his answer from Patriotas; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Éder Chaux has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Patriotas 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Jonnier Torres 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuel Bello, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Freyn Macleyn knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Freyn Macleyn trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Oct 2026
The name of Michael Nike keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Patriotas say nothing, which says plenty.