Marked for Richard Soteldo
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
No sign of nerves from Salomon Rincon at 20 — 7.92
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Salomon Rincon did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ángel González 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Atletico Venezuela now.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Junior Moreno could afford to be generous.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Rafael Arace gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Rafael Arace is on it.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Salomon Rincon, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Atletico Venezuela would like this to lead.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Atletico Venezuela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
No sign of nerves from Salomon Rincon at 20 — 7.82
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Salomon Rincon did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atletico Venezuela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
4 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
Roberto Ferraresi 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 20 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Rafael Arace beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market25 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sergio Castillo 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andres Murillo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Osorio
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atletico Venezuela lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Salomon Rincon 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Richard Soteldo
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Atletico Venezuela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fernando Murillo 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Carlos Arango gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Carlos Arango is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Sep 2026
Carlos Arango 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 Atletico Venezuela can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Salomon Rincon 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
David Moreno 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Rafael Martinez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atletico Venezuela 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.
The dugout21 Sep 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 Atletico Venezuela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Cristian Osorio
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atletico Venezuela lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roberto Ferraresi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Richard Soteldo has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Diego Murillo named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Diego Murillo is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Richard Gonzalez is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atletico Venezuela lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match19 Aug 2026
Salomon Rincon wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Salomon Rincon found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Deportivo Tachira went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market24 Aug 2026
Torreense come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Atletico Venezuela did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Daniel Martinez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Salomon Rincon at 19 — 7.65
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Salomon Rincon did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Atletico Venezuela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roberto Ferraresi 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
1‑2 to Carabobo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
He is 19 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.