Marked for Roberto Rosales
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Rafael Murillo damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Jair Andara 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zulia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Jair Andara 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio Rincon
“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.
Market4 Jan 2027
12 months and counting on Hugo Sánchez
Still no offer on the table, and Hugo Sánchez’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Jair Andara 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Dec 2026
The name of Gabriel Cordova has come up in conversations Zulia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Roberto Rosales's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
José Graterol 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Richard Cordova 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Roberto Rosales's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Miguel Savarino 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Luis Cordova out for 19 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zulia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Sergio Otero 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
The manager has not finished forgetting Roberto Rosales's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Luis Cordova breaks a bone — 50 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
José Graterol 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jose Machis, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Luis Cordova breaks a bone — 57 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Roberto Rosales 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Cordova 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Zulia did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market31 Aug 2026
Oscar Ferraresi has left for St. Gallen in a $3.2M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Sergio Otero 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Aug 2026
Zulia out of the cup
Zamora ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Oscar Ferraresi has come up in conversations Zulia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match19 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Zulia's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zulia has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andres Ramirez 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.
Squad24 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
The kick that got away from José Graterol
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Aug 2026
Zulia march on in the cup
Estudiantes de Merida are out and Zulia go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Roberto Rosales: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Diego Cordova could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.49
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.49, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Zulia
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Zulia are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
José Graterol 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Zulia cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Jose Machis 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A defender's afternoon for Héctor Bello
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.