Marked for Fernando Rincon
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Casseres
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Llaneros lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Llaneros
0‑1 against Deportivo Tachira, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Fernando Rincon 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Machis 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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Fernando Rincon at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Llaneros.
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
Llaneros caught on 95 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Portuguesa scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
24 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Fernando Rincon obliged against Caracas. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Llaneros.
Squad17 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Aragua made Llaneros work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Machis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
At 17 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Machis, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.02 — 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Fernando Rincon at his very best
Marked 8.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Llaneros.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emiliano Marino and Llaneros agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Machis and Llaneros agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Fernando Rincon 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Luis Machis 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Luis Machis 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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match8 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Deportivo Lara defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Emiliano Marino, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
Zulia will want this one forgotten quickly: 7‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Llaneros were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad3 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad3 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Llaneros can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Llaneros
Fernando Rincon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match1 Aug 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Llaneros and Zulia in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.65 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Machis 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
In brief
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Victor Rincon at his very best
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Luis Machis knocks on the manager's door