The Universitario Popayan Gazette
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Universitario Popayan out
Out, 1‑3 to America de Cali, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Universitario Popayan say no — this time
The offer from Felgueiras for Santiago Bacca was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Yerry Zapata 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 Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
James Lopez runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. 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
Alejandro Falcao 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
Alejandro Falcao 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Mateo Hernandez: “No excuses”
“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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Julian Cuadrado
Nobody at Universitario Popayan is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Hector Restrepo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Universitario Popayan 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.
In brief
- Squad Gustavo Sinisterra makes his debut at 17
- Squad The first one for Hector Restrepo
- Player ratings Sergio Barrios on a tightrope all afternoon