The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Fortuna Düsseldorf moved on, James Castillo reports back to La Equidad, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alejandro Garcia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around La Equidad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A season average of 7.09 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. La Equidad know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Duque 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.
Jairo Pimienta 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.
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 Sergio Diaz is on it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. La Equidad have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.
A season average of 7.09 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. La Equidad know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Duque was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
La Equidad asked and Bragantino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Marked 7.45 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Atletico Bucaramanga had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Edmilson Herazo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Duque was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The first defeat in 6 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Atletico Nacional; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Edmilson Herazo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Jose Mejia to a room that had heard them before.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at La Equidad has been clear about where Sergio Mina stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at La Equidad 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.
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.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Víctor Cabezas
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Enrique Peña Zauner and La Equidad agree another 3 years.
Sergio Mina 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.
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 Sergio Diaz is on it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
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.” Jose Mejia chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nicolas Rangel did not need any: 8.10, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Duque was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Hugo Diaz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to La Equidad.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Hugo Diaz 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Jose Mejia, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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 James Castillo is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.
Sergio Mina 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gustavo Duque signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and La Equidad have no good answer.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at La Equidad can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Jesus Zapata 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Deportivo Pasto will make the call about Brian Lemos this week. La Equidad have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The phone has started ringing about Nicolas Rangel again, and this time the name on the line is Bogota. La Equidad are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Lemos 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.
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.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. La Equidad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” La Equidad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Brian Lemos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Duque 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.
Nobody at La Equidad 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. La Equidad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 12 on 51 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at La Equidad is running low.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” La Equidad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Brian Lemos 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Gustavo Duque 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon La Equidad had all but put away. Deportivo Cali will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Edmilson Herazo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” La Equidad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Nicolas Rangel, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.76
A mark of 7.76 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.
Brian Lemos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Diaz 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.
At 20 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.
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Independiente Medellin? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” La Equidad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about La Equidad and Real Cartagena in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Sergio Mina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Jose Mejia to a room that had heard them before.
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 Hugo Diaz is on it.
Beaten 4 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. La Equidad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at La Equidad that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rafael Tapia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gustavo Duque signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Everything agreed with Once Caldas, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
La Equidad asked and Real Cartagena said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Jose Mejia on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.