Marked for Patrick Preciado
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
Santiago Córdoba damages knee ligaments — 117 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Patrick Preciado 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 dugout30 Nov 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Patrick Preciado 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager plants his flag on Matías Pisano
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Matías Pisano’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Santiago Córdoba
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad23 Nov 2026
John Méndez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrick Preciado, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
When it matters, Diego Chaná 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Deportivo Pasto will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Deportivo Pasto. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Quiñones
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Pasto may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
John Méndez 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 Deportivo Pasto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Quiñones
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mayer Gil 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 dugout9 Nov 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Deportivo Pasto. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
Julián Quiñones damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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 ratings2 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Matías Pisano yet — 7.93
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 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.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.36 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Andres Rangel, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Johan Portilla 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Patrick Preciado has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Francisco Vargas could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Quiñones
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Hervin Goyes is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” John Méndez and Deportivo Pasto agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Patrick Preciado 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.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Atletico Bucaramanga next, and one man in the Deportivo Pasto dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Hassan Vergara 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 Hassan Vergara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Oct 2026
Jeremías Ramírez signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Quiñones
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Matías Pisano, 34, rolls back the years — 8.23
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Luther Rueda is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Esneyder Mena’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Deportivo Pasto.
Squad5 Oct 2026
46 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Oct 2026
John Méndez 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 terraces5 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mayer Gil 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 ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.41, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Córdoba, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Quiñones
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The game went through John Méndez — 6.83
Marked 6.83 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
John Méndez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
19 new faces, and Deportivo Pasto are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Francisco Vargas after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against La Equidad? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mayer Gil’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Deportivo Pasto needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout28 Sep 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 Pasto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Pasto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match19 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Jaguares, and it could have been more.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Age has not caught Matías Pisano yet — 7.83
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match19 Sep 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Deportivo Pasto have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Mayer Gil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
One of those days for Mayer Gil
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Esneyder Mena at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Deportivo Pasto.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Francisco Vargas could afford to be generous.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Julián Quiñones damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Junior made Deportivo Pasto work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.19 — 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Santiago Jiménez 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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 Sep 2026
Johan Portilla 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
No place for Brayan Gómez in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Deportivo Pasto are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Julián Quiñones damages knee ligaments — 104 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 104 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 Sep 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 Deportivo Pasto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Mateo Garavito has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Santiago Jiménez has moved up it.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Enrique Serje’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Deportivo Pasto needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Ronald Mayo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Deportivo Pasto 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
Julián Quiñones damages knee ligaments — 123 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑1 against Independiente Medellin, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad24 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market24 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Match22 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 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 Deportivo Pasto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Francisco Vargas left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.