Marked for Luis Rivas
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match3 May 2028
Cortulua bow out of the cup
Junior go through and Cortulua go home, 2‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match6 May 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by Deportivo Cali, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market8 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings8 May 2028
No sign of nerves from Rafael Vargas at 19 — 7.78
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rafael Vargas did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad8 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cortulua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match6 May 2028
No end in sight to Cortulua's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cortulua has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mateo Quintero commits to Cortulua for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Moya 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
Match23 Feb 2028
Cortulua through in the cup
A 3‑2 win over Patriotas, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match26 Feb 2028
Chastening afternoon for Cortulua
A 1‑4 beating by Deportivo Pereira was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match23 Feb 2028
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Patriotas had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Cortulua did not stop to explain themselves.
Squad28 Feb 2028
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.
Match26 Feb 2028
Cortulua are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Moya 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 terraces28 Feb 2028
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 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 Bogota this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market13 Dec 2027
Cortulua pay $78.0K, 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
Add another name to the list: Valledupar have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Luis Millán. The answer from Bogota has not changed — yet.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Jafé Pérez 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Marcos Acuña knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bogota, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cortulua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Dec 2027
David Barbosa gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. David Barbosa has just signed for Cortulua, and for once the answer mattered.
Market13 Dec 2027
David Barbosa arrives at Cortulua in a $710.0K statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Cortulua have paid $710.0K for David Barbosa, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Market13 Dec 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad13 Dec 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
The chase for Luis Rivas ended with $78.0K changing hands and Bogota out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kevin Salazar
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bogota lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market1 Nov 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 Bogota, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Kevin Castro 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 Bogota this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kevin Salazar
121 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bogota lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bogota may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Bogota
Cristián Mosquera 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
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Squad
Words at Bogota training over how hard people work
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Boardroom
Wages eat 96% of everything Bogota earn
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Market
The Luis Rivas question follows Bogota around
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jul 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Luis Rivas reports back to Bogota with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Bogota
Cristian Rivas 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Kevin Castro 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
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Bogota
Cristián Mosquera 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Malcom Palacios 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
119% of the income goes out in wages at Bogota
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
Luis Rivas 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 Bogota can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 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 Bogota this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Bogota
Cristian Rivas 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Kevin Castro 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Wilmer Castillo
“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 Jun 2027
Brayan Cuero has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Bogota 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Off the bench and decisive: Luis Rivas
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Bogota were going nowhere until he came on.
Market14 Jun 2027
Bogota have made Luis Rivas available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Jefferson Racines
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bogota lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Bogota
Kevin Castro 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 154% of everything Bogota 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.