The Fortaleza CEIF Herald
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Age has not caught Leonardo Pico yet — 7.90
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match21 Apr 2029
9 unbeaten for Fortaleza CEIF
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Fortaleza CEIF did not have in the autumn.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Fortaleza CEIF
Andrés Arroyo 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.
Match21 Apr 2029
Leonardo Pico sends Fortaleza CEIF past Barranquilla
It finished 2‑1, and it was Leonardo Pico’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Fortaleza CEIF.
The terraces23 Apr 2029
One of their own: Jader Martínez
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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Fortaleza CEIF
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joan Cajares was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
One of those days for Jhon Solís
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Lucca Caula stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucca Caula and Fortaleza CEIF agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Fortaleza CEIF keep their word to Jhon Balanta
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.
In brief
- The dugout Javier Caicedo has his say
- The dugout Julio Patiño gets it from the manager
- The dugout Sebastián Navarro does not fit this one