Iván Barbona

Central Midfielder - KV Kortrijk
19 Jul 2028
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Iván Barbona

101 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at KV Kortrijk

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Boardroom

KV Kortrijk put Hans Januzaj on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Squad

Youri Mertens says KV Kortrijk went back on their word

“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.

Market

KV Kortrijk turn down Zulte Waregem for Sixtus Ogbuehi

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

KV Kortrijk count the cost of losing Moussa Sissoko

147 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Market

Jermaine Rijssel puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at KV Kortrijk, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Anthony Philips is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Kortrijk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at KV Kortrijk

Marko Ilić 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.

Squad

Iván Barbona wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and KV Kortrijk know it.

In brief

Back issues
92 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Marko Ilić 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 KV Kortrijk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Iván Barbona wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and KV Kortrijk know it.

Squad

KV Kortrijk lose Yanis Dubois

54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

83 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the KV Kortrijk boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

Sem Versavel keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KV Kortrijk may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at KV Kortrijk

Marko Ilić 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.

In brief

78 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nothing got past Boris Lambert

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 35 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Matthew Anderson

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Marko Ilić

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.

Squad

Tempers go at KV Kortrijk

Luka Reischl 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 ratings

One of those days for Lenn De Smet

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.82, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Sixtus Ogbuehi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sixtus Ogbuehi, and the manager let it.

Match

KV Kortrijk find a way past Charleroi

Charleroi made KV Kortrijk work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Iván Barbona in the eights

A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No place for Luka Reischl on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at KV Kortrijk pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

74 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

27 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at KV Kortrijk

Marko Ilić 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 ratings

Matthew Anderson shuts the door

Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Boris Lambert shuts the door

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Thierry Ambrose

Marked 8.82 — 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.

Match

Thierry Ambrose the difference as KV Kortrijk beat Club Brugge

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thierry Ambrose. 2‑0 against Club Brugge, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Home is on Iván Barbona's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; KV Kortrijk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Player ratings

One of those days for Sixtus Ogbuehi

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Gilles Ruyssen 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.

Loan watch

Csanád Vilmos Dénes counts the days

“I watch every KV Kortrijk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Charleroi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

73 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Marko Ilić keeps KV Kortrijk in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Marko Ilić 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 KV Kortrijk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Thierry Ambrose

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Lenn De Smet's mistake decides it

Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at KV Kortrijk needed to.

Squad

No hiding place for Iván Barbona

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iván Barbona, and the manager let it.

Match

KV Kortrijk share the spoils with KV Mechelen

A 1‑1 draw with KV Mechelen leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

67 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

KV Kortrijk are in real trouble now

Position 14, 13 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.

Match

No end in sight to KV Kortrijk's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at KV Kortrijk has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Lenn De Smet runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Marko Ilić 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 KV Kortrijk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for KV Kortrijk against Mouscron

1‑3 to Mouscron, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Brecht Dejaegere

Marked 8.91 — 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 ratings

Sixtus Ogbuehi leaves them behind him

Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Squad

No hiding place for Jermaine Rijssel

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jermaine Rijssel, and the manager let it.

Squad

The club’s rules catch up with Lennard Hens

A breach, a hearing, a week’s wages: KV Kortrijk handled it by the book and briefed nobody, which is how you can tell they mean it. The dressing room noticed both halves.

In brief

66 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to KV Kortrijk's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at KV Kortrijk has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at KV Kortrijk

Marko Ilić 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.

Squad

Sixtus Ogbuehi 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.

Squad

Home is on Iván Barbona's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; KV Kortrijk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Player ratings

Boris Lambert in the eights

A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Thierry Ambrose

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

58 Edition

The Colón Post

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ignacio Lago

Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Facundo Castet keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Colón may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Abel Galbán asks to leave Colón

“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.

Squad

Colón lose Facundo Castro

80 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

Colón sell Iván Barbona for $1.2M

Iván Barbona has left for KV Kortrijk in a $1.2M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Pier Barrios 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 Colón this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Wages eat 127% of everything Colón 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.

Player ratings

Nicolás Thaller in the eights

A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The team sheet said everything about Pier Barrios

Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Pier Barrios.

In brief

58 Edition

The KV Kortrijk Post

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for KV Kortrijk

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.

Market

The OH Leuven deal is off

Everything was agreed until it was not, and Emanuele Santaniello reports back to KV Kortrijk with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.

Squad

Tempers go at KV Kortrijk

Marko Ilić 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 ratings

Thierry Ambrose runs at them all day

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Sixtus Ogbuehi

“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 ratings

Lenn De Smet in the eights

A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Market

KV Kortrijk buy the years ahead of Iván Barbona

He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Match

KV Kortrijk and KV Mechelen take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Thierry Ambrose 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.

In brief

55 Edition

The Colón Post

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Colón count the cost of losing Julián Marcioni

104 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Market

Only the photograph left for Bautista Maillier

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Maillier will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colón the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Colón

Pier Barrios 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.

Match

Nicolás Thaller sends Colón past San Telmo

It finished 3‑1, and it was Nicolás Thaller’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Colón.

Squad

Colón count the cost of losing Federico Lértora

14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Player ratings

Ignacio Lago in the eights

A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolás Thaller

Marked 8.53 — 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 ratings

A masterclass from Iván Barbona

Marked 8.26 — 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 ratings

Federico Rasmussen in the eights

A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

43 Edition

The Colón Post

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Agustín Toledo shuts the door

Defensive actions: 45, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Mauro Peinipil shuts the door

Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Darío Sarmiento

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Zahir Yunis asks to leave Colón

“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.

Squad

Federico Rasmussen 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 Colón this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Iván Barbona in the eights

A performance of 8.81 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Colón find a way past Morón

Morón made Colón work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Loan watch

Elías Santini wants to come home

“I did not go to Agropecuario Argentino to sit and watch. I want to come back to Colón and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 22 matches say the rest.

Squad

Ignacio Lago 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.

In brief

17 Edition

The Colón Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Julián Marcioni puts it in writing

“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 Colón, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Pier Barrios 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 Colón this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nahuel Curcio

“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.

In brief

16 Edition

The Colón Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Nahuel Curcio: 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.” Colón have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Federico Rasmussen 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 Colón this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Alan Bonansea 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.

In brief