Marked for Daniel Palacios
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
10 matches without a win for Cortulua
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Age has not caught Kevin Giraldo yet — 7.81
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Joaquín Molina 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 ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Pablo Diaz
“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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
35 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Cortulua
9 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Chastening afternoon for Cortulua
A 0‑3 beating by Atletico Bucaramanga was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Cortulua
Joaquín Molina 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Victor Mejia commits to Cortulua for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Sinisterra 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Cortulua dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
Oscar Hernandez's mistake decides it
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The dugout
The form table has caught Johan Diaz
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Cortulua
A 0‑3 beating by Aguilas Doradas was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Persik had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market1 Feb 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cortulua can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Cortulua
Joaquín Molina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Juan José Forero, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market1 Feb 2027
Fernando Uribe 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 Fernando Uribe stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market1 Feb 2027
Mirandés are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Cortulua will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jose Ospina commits to Cortulua for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cortulua lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Jan 2027
54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Hugo 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cortulua know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Daniel Palacios 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cortulua lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market11 Jan 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bogota had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market11 Jan 2027
Juan Valencia 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Bogota wanted more than $50.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Cortulua
Gabriel Sinisterra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Cortulua will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio Montero
“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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hugo Gomez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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
Squad30 Nov 2026
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cortulua lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cortulua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Nov 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.
Market30 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Cortulua
Johan Herrera 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Hugo 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.
Market30 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Johan Herrera’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cortulua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager plants his flag on Victor Mejia
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Victor Mejia’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Carlos Muriel damages knee ligaments — 76 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 76 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cortulua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Cortulua
Johan Herrera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Gabriel Sinisterra 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Brayan Benítez signs something — a contract at Cortulua or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Market28 Sep 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Gael Pereyra wants continental football; whether Cortulua can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Cortulua
Johan Herrera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to James Montero, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mateo Rios and Cortulua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 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 Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Deportivo Cali, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Sinisterra 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Francisco Garcia, 15 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market21 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kevin Giraldo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match12 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Cortulua
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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sebastian Valencia did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Cortulua leaking at the back
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match12 Sep 2026
Santa Fe left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Cortulua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Sinisterra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Sep 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Santiago Muriel to a room that had heard them before.