Marked for Alan Benítez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Jul 2030
Every point is an argument now for Valledupar
Position 12 and 4 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.
Boardroom29 Jul 2030
Pressure builds in the Valledupar boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 Jul 2030
“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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Brayan Blandón 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.
Boardroom29 Jul 2030
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Market29 Jul 2030
The clock does Ánderson Mojica’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Valledupar could ask drops and the wages Ánderson Mojica can ask rise.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Víctor Barona 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.
Market29 Jul 2030
Valledupar have made Camilo Ordóñez available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market29 Jul 2030
The market said no: Alan Benítez stays put
Valledupar opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Alan Benítez stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Mar 2030
No end in sight to Valledupar's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Valledupar has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Mar 2030
“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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Mar 2030
Jaguares left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yilber Aponzá, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
5.69 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Alê Santos 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.
Market18 Mar 2030
Valledupar have made Alê Santos available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Feb 2030
No end in sight to Valledupar's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Valledupar has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Feb 2030
Alê Santos 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 Valledupar can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Nicolás Torres 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.
Match16 Feb 2030
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yilber Aponzá, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Feb 2030
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Sergio Palacios knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Marked 5.56, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
A mark of 5.56 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Dec 2029
“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 Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Dec 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joar Bautista and Valledupar agree another 3 years.
Squad31 Dec 2029
A new face in his position, and Yilber Aponzá suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Valledupar have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market31 Dec 2029
Valledupar shop where it costs nothing
Joar Bautista signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
Market31 Dec 2029
Valledupar have made Ánderson Mojica available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valledupar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2029
José García 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 José García trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Jul 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Cristian Martinez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market16 Jul 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luis Rodriguez signs something — a contract at Valledupar or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
15 graduates from an academy now rated 7 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Pressure builds in the Valledupar boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Match2 Jun 2029
The wait goes on for Valledupar
5 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valledupar may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$64.0K of the owner's money at Valledupar
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Match2 Jun 2029
0‑1 to Tigres, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
No signings allowed at Valledupar
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Valledupar's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Valledupar has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market26 Mar 2029
“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 Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Brayan Blandón 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 ratings26 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad26 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Alan Benítez
“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 ratings26 Mar 2029
A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Brayan Blandón 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.
Match24 Mar 2029
Point won or two lost for Valledupar?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Depor? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Santiago Hernandez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valledupar the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“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.
Market5 Feb 2029
“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 Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Feb 2029
The wait goes on for Valledupar
5 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sergio Palacios commits to Valledupar for another 2 years.
Squad5 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
142% of the income goes out in wages at Valledupar
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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bryan Padilla, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.52 on the card, and the Valledupar support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Dec 2028
The offer from Barranquilla for Santiago Hernandez 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.
Market18 Dec 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 Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Brayan Blandón 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.
Market18 Dec 2028
Depor are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Valledupar will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market18 Dec 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad18 Dec 2028
David Falcao 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.