Marked for Andres Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Andres Ramirez 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
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
José Graterol has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zulia 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.
Back issues
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
Crisis
Match8 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Zulia
0‑6 against Trujillanos, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andres Ramirez and Zulia agree another 3 years.
Squad10 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zulia and Trujillanos in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Andres Ramirez 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.
Squad10 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Oscar Ferraresi 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.
Squad3 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match1 Aug 2026
It needed Oscar Ferraresi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Zamora, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Andres Ramirez knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad3 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Zulia have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.