Marked for Liam Espinosa
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. César Quintero 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Juan Deusa 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market23 Nov 2026
The name of Liam Espinosa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Cortulua say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Cortulua. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cortulua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Edwin Cordoba and Cortulua agree another 5 years.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Espinosa 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Cortulua
Hector Arias and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Felipe Diaz
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Wilmar Muriel gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Wilmar Muriel is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Cortulua
Liam Espinosa 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Daniel Arcos pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oscar Falcao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and César Quintero has written the date down.
Market9 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Hector Arias’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Liam Espinosa 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
César Quintero 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Hector Arias
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Hector Arias has come out of that comparison in the side, and Cortulua have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Felipe Diaz has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and César Quintero has written the date down.
Market2 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mateo Ramirez signs something — a contract at Cortulua or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
César Quintero 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 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Espinosa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Edwin Cordoba has become a man the manager trusts
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
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Cortulua
Liam Espinosa 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. César Quintero 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
America de Cali left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of César Quintero
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fabian Santos and Cortulua agree another 4 years.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Oscar Falcao dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Carlos Bacca has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
The chances came and went for Mateo Ramirez
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Oct 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.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
At 21 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Hector Arias’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cortulua.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Espinosa 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 7.79. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mateo Ramirez named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Mateo Ramirez is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Leonardo Mina on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Felipe Diaz gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Felipe Diaz is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Once Caldas left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Juan Deusa 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leonardo Mina after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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 Sep 2026
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The form table has caught Oscar Falcao
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Edwin Cordoba gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Edwin Cordoba is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad21 Sep 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Hector Arias at 21 — 7.72
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hector Arias did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Mateo Ramirez at his very best
Marked 9.94. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cortulua.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Cortulua
Liam Espinosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. César Quintero 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 Sep 2026
10 goals and a season average of 7.25. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 4‑0, Leonardo Mina could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Akron had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Cortulua
César Quintero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Quintero, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Espinosa 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Mateo Ramirez at his very best
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cortulua.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Leonardo Mina chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Mateo Ramirez has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
The match ball belongs to Mateo Ramirez, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Mateo Ramirez at his very best
Marked 9.94. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cortulua.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 4‑2, and it was Mateo Ramirez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cortulua.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
He is 21 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Carlos Uribe was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.37. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Deusa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
Dibba come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Cortulua did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. César Quintero 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2‑0 win over Millonarios, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Deusa, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Leonardo Mina could afford to be generous.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Andres Lemos dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Aug 2026
Cortulua bow out of the cup
America de Cali go through and Cortulua go home, 1‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
1-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Cortulua
Jesus Castillo 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Espinosa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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.
Match22 Aug 2026
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Match22 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
Cortulua march on in the cup
Alianza Petrolera are out and Cortulua go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market17 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Kryvbas had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Hector Arias, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.98
A mark of 7.98 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Cortulua
Liam Espinosa 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Deportes Tolima left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
He is 19 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Camilo Bacca
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Deusa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Carlos Bacca was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 48. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Liam Espinosa and Cortulua agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and César Quintero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Liam Espinosa. 1‑0 against Union Magdalena, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Leonardo Mina on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Cuadrado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 2026
Cortulua say no — this time
The offer from Panserraikos for Hector 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A move Juan Deusa would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Juan Deusa is living that version at Cortulua, and it tends to show in the first month.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad3 Aug 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Liam Espinosa 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match1 Aug 2026
Cortulua caught on 92 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Envigado scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad3 Aug 2026
No place for César Quintero in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Cortulua are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Cortulua deserved better, and so did he.