Marked for Junior Murillo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Luis Torres 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
David 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Rondon, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Luis Torres 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Gabriel Rincon pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Luis Torres 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Junior Murillo 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Luis Torres 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
David 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Junior Murillo 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Luis Torres 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Luis Rondon is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 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 Zulia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Luis Torres 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Carlos Ramirez commits to Zulia for another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
David 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Junior Murillo 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
Rafael 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 Zulia can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
David 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Luis Torres 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Arango and Zulia agree another 3 years.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 46. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Aug 2026
Zulia out of the cup
Estudiantes de Merida ended it 2‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match12 Aug 2026
Zulia throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Estudiantes de Merida the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Zulia will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Junior Murillo at 19 — 8.20
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Junior Murillo did not need any: 8.20, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Luis Torres 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
At 19 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yeferson Machis. 1‑0 against Metropolitanos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Junior Murillo at 19 — 7.72
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Junior Murillo did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market10 Aug 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sergio Castillo commits to Zulia for another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Luis Torres 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Moreno 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.