Marked for Keimer Sandoval
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Oct 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Deportivo Cali can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Vicente Poggi 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.
The dugout11 Oct 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Keimer Sandoval's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Jhon Vásquez gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jhon Vásquez is on it.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Tití Rodríguez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Deportivo Cali needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Camilo Mena 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Keimer Sandoval has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Deportivo Cali that is a harder question to answer.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Deportivo Cali they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Sep 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 Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Giraldo, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Néider Ospina named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Néider Ospina is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout6 Sep 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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
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.
Looking ahead6 Sep 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Brayan Carabalí’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Deportivo Cali needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Jul 2027
Santa Fe go through and Deportivo Cali go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad26 Jul 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market26 Jul 2027
“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 Deportivo Cali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Deportivo Cali close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market26 Jul 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Depor moved on, Keimer Sandoval reports back to Deportivo Cali, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Match24 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Johar Mejía. 2‑1 against Once Caldas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Emanuel Reynoso
8 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexis Manyoma 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
Match17 Jul 2027
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Johar Mejía takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market19 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cortulua waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Deportivo Cali is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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 Deportivo Cali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jul 2027
America de Cali pay $1.6M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Match17 Jul 2027
Nobody wants to play Deportivo Cali right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Emanuel Reynoso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Marked 9.45 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Jul 2027
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Vicente Poggi decided nobody was going anywhere. Deportes Tolima had no time left to answer.
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Leones waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Deportivo Cali is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Keimer Sandoval will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Cali the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Vicente Poggi goes up and wins it — 7.68
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.68 for the rest of it.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Deportivo Cali have done the hard part with Newell's Old Boys, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 Jul 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 Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Emanuel Reynoso 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 dugout5 Jul 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
A 1‑0 win over Deportes Tolima, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Deportivo Cali people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market14 Jun 2027
Mateo Puerta 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 Deportivo Cali can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Two goals and a mark of 7.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match12 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Deportivo Cali's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Deportivo Cali has to find a result from somewhere.
Market14 Jun 2027
Santa Fe come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Deportivo Cali did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about José Caldera again, and this time the name on the line is Depor. Deportivo Cali are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The deal with River Plate is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Match12 Jun 2027
2‑3 to Deportivo Pereira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Emanuel Reynoso 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
Steady
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Cali may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Real Cartagena wanted more than $880.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emanuel Reynoso 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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” José Caldera has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Deportivo Cali.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
A loan enquiry to River Plate: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout7 Dec 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 Deportivo Cali, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Fernando Álvarez is on it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Deportivo Cali than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.