Edwin Gomez

Attacking Midfielder (C) - Cortulua
10 Jul 2027
Saturday
Process

Marked for Edwin Gomez

48 Edition

The Cortulua Post

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Edwin Gomez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Alejandro Escobar asks to leave Cortulua

“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

Tempers go at Cortulua

Brayan Palacios 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

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Jefferson Hernandez

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.

Match

Cortulua see off Patriotas

Three points for Cortulua, 2‑0 the final word against Patriotas in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Jefferson Hernandez at his very best

Marked 8.47. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cortulua.

Squad

Cristian Romero is carrying Cortulua

10 goals and a season average of 7.26. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

One of those days for Cristian Romero

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

Back issues
46 Edition

The Cortulua Post

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

America de Cali 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jefferson Hernandez

Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Leyner Palacios gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leyner Palacios has just signed for Cortulua, and for once the answer mattered.

Market

Leyner Palacios is a Cortulua player

The fee is $500.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Leones drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

The terraces

Cortulua spend $500.0K on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $500.0K for Leyner Palacios, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Match

Edwin Gomez the difference as Cortulua beat Aguilas Doradas

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Edwin Gomez. 2‑1 against Aguilas Doradas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

Cortulua supporters have found a favourite in Edwin Gomez

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Edwin Gomez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

Cortulua lose Cristian Moya

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

In brief

45 Edition

The Cortulua Post

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

America de Cali 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.

Squad

Sergio Medina keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Sebastián González 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

Edwin Gomez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Loan watch

Diego Lopez has seen enough of Alianza Petrolera

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.

Market

Cristian Moya is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cortulua has been clear about where Cristian Moya stands, which is more than many ever get.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Cristian Moya

“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.

Match

Point won or two lost for Cortulua?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Jaguares? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief

43 Edition

The Cortulua Post

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Cristian Romero

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

8 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Leonardo Moretti keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Match

Junior take the points off Cortulua

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

42 Edition

The Cortulua Post

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Alejandro Escobar 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Match

The wait goes on for Cortulua

7 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Brayan Palacios 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

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Loan watch

Ivan Palacios has seen enough of Deportes Quindio

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 2 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

Cortulua and Once Caldas take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Alejandro Escobar has to sit this one out

A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Cortulua lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.

Squad

Cortulua pick somebody else ahead of William Delgado

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Edwin Gomez

Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

41 Edition

The Cortulua Post

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Leonardo Moretti is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Leonardo Moretti: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Player ratings

Cristian Romero runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Cup progress for Cortulua

A 0‑0 win over Santa Fe, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

No end in sight to Cortulua's wait for a win

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

Squad

Yerry Vargas keeps Cortulua in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Brayan 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.

Match

Edwin Gomez’s goal not enough for Cortulua

Edwin Gomez scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Deportivo Cali, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Loan watch

Diego Lopez counts the days

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

Squad

Mateo Guerrero 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

40 Edition

The Cortulua Post

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Cristian Romero runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

The wait goes on for Cortulua

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.

Squad

Sergio Cordoba stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Cordoba and Cortulua agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Loan watch

Miguel Gomez has seen enough of La Equidad

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Santa Fe

Santa Fe left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

39 Edition

The Cortulua Post

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Independiente Medellin

Independiente Medellin left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

Cortulua may not be able to give Sergio Cordoba what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sergio Cordoba wants continental football; whether Cortulua can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Benicio Villalba 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

The manager makes an example of Sebastián González

“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

Cristian Romero runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

37 Edition

The Cortulua Post

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Cristian Romero

Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Cortulua refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 23 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Cortulua

The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Brayan Palacios signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Brayan Palacios commits to Cortulua for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Gabriel Rios 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

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

36 Edition

The Cortulua Post

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Fabian Moreno says Cortulua 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.

Match

8 unbeaten for Cortulua

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Cortulua did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The run at home goes on for Cortulua

9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Match

Cristian Romero the difference as Cortulua beat Deportes Tolima

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cristian Romero. 1‑0 against Deportes Tolima, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Cristian Romero at his very best

Marked 8.37. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cortulua.

Squad

Sergio Cordoba is the division's best young player this month

At 19 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Cortulua will try very hard not to make too much of it.

Loan watch

Ivan Palacios has seen enough of Deportes Quindio

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 2 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

35 Edition

The Cortulua Post

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Cristian Romero takes the afternoon — 8.48

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Cristian Romero provided it, and the 8.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Sergio Cordoba, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.42

A mark of 8.42 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Cortulua

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

Cristian Romero among the goals in a wild afternoon

8 goals in one match, Cristian Romero on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Cortulua and Union Magdalena.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Palacios 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

William Delgado 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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Leonardo Mina

At 23 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Edwin Gomez

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Leonardo Mina

Marked 8.14 — 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.

In brief

34 Edition

The Cortulua Post

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Alejandro Escobar 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 Cortulua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Richard Cardona 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

Whatever happens, Cortulua do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Farid Tamayo

At 19 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.

Match

Nobody wins at Cortulua

8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Match

Cortulua get the job done against Envigado

A 1‑0 win over Envigado, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Cristian Romero

Marked 8.04 — 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Sergio Medina

“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

33 Edition

The Cortulua Post

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Renato Bonetti takes the Cortulua job

“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Renato Bonetti made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jorge Giraldo

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Leonardo Mina signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leonardo Mina and Cortulua agree another 4 years.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Loan watch

Diego Lopez counts the days

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

The terraces

Cortulua supporters have found a favourite in Edwin Gomez

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Edwin Gomez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

One of those days for Edwin Gomez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Benicio Villalba 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Alejandro Escobar is playing like a man with something to prove

The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Alejandro Escobar is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.

In brief

31 Edition

The Cortulua Post

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Cristian Romero runs at them all day

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.

Match

Cup progress for Cortulua

A 1‑0 win over Real Cartagena, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Cruel end for Real Cartagena as Cortulua pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Cortulua scored in the 98th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Player ratings

Sergio Cordoba, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.08

A mark of 8.08 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Squad

Sebastián González 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Miguel Gomez counts the days

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

The terraces

Cortulua supporters have found a favourite in Sergio Cordoba

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Sergio Cordoba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Cortulua get the job done against Deportes Quindio

A 1‑0 win over Deportes Quindio, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief

30 Edition

The Cortulua Post

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Alejandro Escobar 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Sergio Cordoba

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

No hiding place for David Montoya

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

Loan watch

Luis Martinez has seen enough of Santa Fe

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

29 Edition

The Cortulua Post

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Cristian Romero runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 52. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Gabriel Rios 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

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Palacios 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.

Boardroom

Cortulua still without a manager

9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.

Match

Jorge Giraldo’s goal not enough for Cortulua

Jorge Giraldo scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Patriotas, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Yerry Vargas

“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

Edwin Gomez did the work nobody counts — 7.13

10 combined actions and 7.13. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

Squad

15 new faces, and Cortulua are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Loan watch

Diego Lopez counts the days

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

In brief

28 Edition

The Cortulua Post

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Stade Brestois take Rafael Sanchez from Cortulua

The compensation was agreed inside a week and the club has lost a manager it had no intention of losing. Cortulua start again, and start behind.

Squad

Benicio Villalba damages knee ligaments — 21 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Cortulua run riot against La Equidad

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

A fracture rules Duvan Mina out for 18 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cortulua will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A day Edwin Gomez will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Boardroom

Sebastian Herrera minds the shop at Cortulua

“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Sebastian Herrera recited it perfectly.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Jorge Giraldo at 20 — 8.28

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jorge Giraldo did not need any: 8.28, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

Brayan Palacios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Edwin Gomez

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.

In brief

27 Edition

The Cortulua Post

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Benicio Villalba damages knee ligaments — 28 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Duvan Mina breaks a bone — 26 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Jorge Giraldo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80

A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

Richard Cardona 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Market

Sergio Medina told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Sergio Medina has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Cortulua.

In brief

25 Edition

The Cortulua Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Benicio Villalba

43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cortulua lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Squad

Fabian Moreno 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

24 Edition

The Cortulua Post

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Benicio Villalba

50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cortulua lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Cortulua say no — this time

The offer from O'Higgins for Leonardo Moretti 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.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

22 Edition

The Cortulua Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Cortulua

11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief

21 Edition

The Cortulua Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A season's verdict on Jorge Giraldo: the best of his age

Cortulua have a 20-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.

Market

Alejandro Escobar wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cortulua hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Brayan Palacios 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

Óscar Alcócer stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Óscar Alcócer and Cortulua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Market

Talks stall between Cortulua and William Delgado

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief

19 Edition

The Cortulua Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Benicio Villalba says Cortulua 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

Eyes on Yerry Vargas again

The phone has started ringing about Yerry Vargas again, and this time the name on the line is Millonarios. Cortulua are listening politely and promising nothing.

Market

Alejandro Sanchez 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 Cortulua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Cortulua say no — this time

The offer from Alianza Lima for Leonardo Moretti 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.

Squad

Nicolás Roa signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolás Roa commits to Cortulua for another 2 years.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

18 Edition

The Cortulua Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Fabian Moreno says Cortulua 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

Cortulua may not be able to give Alejandro Escobar what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alejandro Escobar wants continental football; whether Cortulua can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

16 Edition

The Cortulua Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Diego Herrera

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

In brief

15 Edition

The Cortulua Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Gabriel Rios 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

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Squad

Vitor Rodrigues signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vitor Rodrigues commits to Cortulua for another 4 years.

In brief

13 Edition

The Cortulua Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ivan Palacios asks to leave Cortulua

“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

Richard Cardona 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

12 Edition

The Cortulua Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Sergio Medina

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

In brief

10 Edition

The Cortulua Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Cristian Romero

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

Match

5 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Market

Alejandro Sanchez asks to leave Cortulua

“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.

Market

Cortulua may not be able to give Alejandro Escobar what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alejandro Escobar wants continental football; whether Cortulua can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

9 Edition

The Cortulua Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ivan Palacios 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 Cortulua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

No end in sight to Cortulua's wait for a win

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

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Gabriel Rios 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

Nobody could get near Jefferson Hernandez

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Cortulua

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Once Caldas

Once Caldas left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Juan Valencia 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.

Squad

When it matters, Jorge Giraldo plays

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The Cortulua Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Cristian Romero runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Alejandro Escobar wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cortulua hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

6 Edition

The Cortulua Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Cristian Romero runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 43. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Alejandro Sanchez 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 Cortulua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Richard Cardona 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

Edwin Gomez 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Edwin Gomez

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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Edwin Gomez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Jorge Giraldo is the division's best young player this month

At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Cortulua will try very hard not to make too much of it.

Squad

Jorge Giraldo named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jorge Giraldo is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Match

Cortulua and Independiente Medellin 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.

In brief

4 Edition

The Cortulua Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Cristian Romero

Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Cortulua out of the cup

America de Cali ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Match

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.

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cortulua against Atletico Nacional

0‑1 to Atletico Nacional, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Juan Valencia

“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.

Squad

Cortulua pick somebody else ahead of Juan Valencia

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.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Yerry Vargas

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

In brief

3 Edition

The Cortulua Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Yerry Vargas decides it from twelve yards

2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.

Match

Jorge Giraldo sends Cortulua through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Jorge Giraldo obliged against Alianza Petrolera. 3‑3 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Cortulua.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Cristian Romero

Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Jorge Giraldo at 20 — 8.09

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jorge Giraldo did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Fylkir 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.

Player ratings

Andres Gomez has a hand in both — 7.43

One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.43, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Gabriel Rios 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

Jorge Giraldo among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Jorge Giraldo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Cortulua and Alianza Petrolera.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Gomez 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Cortulua Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Levante 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.

Market

Alejandro Sanchez 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Alejandro Escobar wants more than Cortulua are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Market

Cortulua may not be able to give Sebastian Lopez what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastian Lopez wants continental football; whether Cortulua can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Gabriel Rios 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Edwin Gomez 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.

Match

Sebastian Lopez the difference as Cortulua beat Envigado

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sebastian Lopez. 1‑0 against Envigado, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

One of those days for Sebastian Lopez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Alejandro Escobar 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