Marked for Wainer Marquez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leones they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Roinner Fruto and Leones agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Germán Meneses, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Leones
Aaron Sandoval 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Leones training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Felipe Hincapié 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Sep 2027
Leones are in real trouble now
Position 10, 21 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Cortulua to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leones and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Wages swallow 85% of the Leones income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Felipe Hincapié was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Bryan Caicedo 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
Match16 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for Leones
Position 10 and 21 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Leones training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Germán Meneses 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 dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Germán Meneses
“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.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“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 Leones, and 6 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Leones
Jeimar Ibargüen 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Wages eat 91% of everything Leones earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Jul 2027
Leones are in real trouble now
Position 10, 21 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bogota waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leones is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Leones sell a favourite for $1.3M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Juan Diego Ceballos was one of the reasons people came, and $1.3M does not replace that by itself.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leones may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets19 Jul 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Germán Meneses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Leones
Andrés Monsalve and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Jun 2027
Leones sink to position 10
21 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market21 Jun 2027
Millonarios come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Leones did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market21 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cortulua waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leones is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad21 Jun 2027
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.
Market21 Jun 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Camilo Gómez scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Envigado, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Transfer targets21 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Cristian Lora
“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
Uneasy
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Leones
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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 May 2027
Germán Meneses 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 ratings24 May 2027
A mark of 7.99, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Leones
Johan Martínez 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.
Loan watch24 May 2027
“I watch every Leones game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Cortulua runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout24 May 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Roinner Fruto will call it something else in private.
Match22 May 2027
It needed Thomás Amilivia to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Fortaleza CEIF, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Johan Muñoz
“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
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Juan Diego Ceballos takes the afternoon — 8.21
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Juan Diego Ceballos provided it, and the 8.21 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad26 Apr 2027
There were 7 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
No sign of nerves from Bryan Caicedo at 21 — 7.95
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bryan Caicedo did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match24 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Diego Ceballos. 3‑1 against Barranquilla, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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 terraces26 Apr 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Bryan Caicedo 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Looking ahead26 Apr 2027
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Leones know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“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 Leones, and 4 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Deportes Tolima left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Junior Palacios and Cortulua agree another 2 years.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
“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 Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” James Hernandez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Jeycob Zabaleta
“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 dugout12 Apr 2027
Nobody at Cortulua 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
Uneasy
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“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 Leones, and 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Leones
Juan David Ramírez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Johan Muñoz 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Leones training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Felipe Hincapié 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
Bryan Caicedo 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Envigado in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Camilo Gómez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leones 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I want to play”: Johan Muñoz speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match24 Feb 2027
The small margins put Leones out
Out, 0‑2 to Atletico Bucaramanga, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match27 Feb 2027
6 matches without a win for Leones
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Leones are no longer polite ones.
Market1 Mar 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Germán Meneses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Germán Meneses, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match20 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Cortulua's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cortulua has to find a result from somewhere.
Market22 Feb 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Wainer Marquez: 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.” Cortulua have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Antonio Ortiz 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Both jobs done by Hugo Sanchez — 6.99
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.99, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad22 Feb 2027
21 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
1‑4 to Patriotas, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match13 Feb 2027
6 matches without a win for Cortulua
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market15 Feb 2027
Cortulua say no — this time
The offer from Astana for James Arias 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Cortulua
Santiago Beltrán 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián González, and the manager let it.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yojhan Sánchez is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
163% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Bryan Caicedo
“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 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Cristian Lora, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Germán Meneses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Leones
Johan Martínez 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.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Real Cartagena have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market28 Dec 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Leones will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Dec 2026
The unthinkable, invoiced: Juan Quintero sold
Envigado arrived with $3.2M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
Juan Quintero has gone, the accounts have $3.2M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Everything agreed with Leones, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Transfer targets21 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Alberto Marino 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.
Squad21 Dec 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Dec 2026
Juan David Obando is 20, and Cortulua have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Freider Segovia
“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
Uneasy
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Everything agreed with Real Cartagena, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Leones training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Germán Meneses 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Leones
Samuel Guzmán 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Leones will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Cristian Lora
“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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Bryan Caicedo 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 Bryan Caicedo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.