Marked for Daniel Herrera
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Kevin Ramirez breaks a bone — 83 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match25 Mar 2028
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Universitario Popayan has to find a result from somewhere.
Market27 Mar 2028
Manuel Rios 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 Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Miguel 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Bacca 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 ratings27 Mar 2028
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.
Match25 Mar 2028
It needed Edwin Sinisterra to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against La Equidad, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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 ratings27 Mar 2028
Chances created: 6. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Kevin Ramirez out for 126 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
A brace, and Johan Muriel takes the afternoon — 7.87
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Johan Muriel provided it, and the 7.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Feb 2028
“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 Universitario Popayan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Miguel 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Bacca 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 terraces14 Feb 2028
The crowd has taken to James Bacca
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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
When it matters, James Bacca 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
“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 Universitario Popayan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Bacca 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
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Apr 2027
24 goals and a season average of 7.65. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Francisco Valencia takes the afternoon — 9.20
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Francisco Valencia provided it, and the 9.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Valencia 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
A 2‑1 win over Depor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad26 Apr 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match27 Mar 2027
2‑6 against Llaneros, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market29 Mar 2027
Javier Bacca 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 Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
A brace, and Francisco Valencia takes the afternoon — 8.96
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Francisco Valencia provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A season average of 7.31 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match27 Mar 2027
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Universitario Popayan and Llaneros in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Market29 Mar 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Universitario Popayan have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Bacca 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
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Mar 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market22 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Mar 2027
13 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Giraldo 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 terraces22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Gabriel Hernandez 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
Squad15 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Mar 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market15 Mar 2027
“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 Universitario Popayan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market15 Mar 2027
Santiago Mejia has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universitario Popayan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom15 Mar 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Santiago Mejia has agreed terms with Deportes Quindio for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad15 Mar 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Bacca 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market8 Mar 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Diego Giraldo 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
Squad1 Mar 2027
The match ball belongs to Francisco Valencia, whose 6 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad1 Mar 2027
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match24 Feb 2027
Millonarios go through and Universitario Popayan go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Kevin Ramirez, 34, rolls back the years — 8.10
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market1 Mar 2027
David Falcao 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 Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.56 for the rest of it.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Feb 2027
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Jorge Sanchez breaks a bone — 17 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match20 Feb 2027
6 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.
Squad22 Feb 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Feb 2027
Fortaleza CEIF left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Jorge Sanchez breaks a bone — 24 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match13 Feb 2027
5 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Miguel 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Daniel Herrera damages knee ligaments — 94 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Jorge Sanchez out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Feb 2027
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Universitario Popayan are no longer polite ones.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Daniel Herrera damages knee ligaments — 101 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 101 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Jorge Sanchez breaks a bone — 40 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.43 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market1 Feb 2027
David Falcao 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 Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Feb 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Feb 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Jan 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Universitario Popayan and Tigres, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Daniel Herrera damages knee ligaments — 108 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Jorge Sanchez out for 48 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market25 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Diego Giraldo 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Javier Bacca 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 terraces25 Jan 2027
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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alejandro Murillo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market25 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Richard Uribe has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Daniel Herrera damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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
A fracture rules Oscar Herrera out for 38 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Daniel Herrera damages knee ligaments — 122 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 122 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Oscar Herrera breaks a bone — 46 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
Daniel Herrera damages knee ligaments — 129 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 129 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Oscar Herrera breaks a bone — 55 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
137 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Oscar Herrera out for 63 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Herrera
144 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Oscar Herrera breaks a bone — 71 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javier Bacca 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.