Marked for Cristian Cordova
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Atletico Venezuela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 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 Atletico Venezuela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Cristian Cordova 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
Oscar Machis knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oscar Machis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andres Rondon makes the division’s eleven — 6.70
Marked 6.70, and picked in the team of the week for it. He was the best player on that pitch and the selectors saw the same match everybody else did.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Aug 2026
A 2‑0 win over Deportivo Lara, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Edwin Uribe could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 8.00
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 8.00, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market17 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Match15 Aug 2026
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Juan Carlos Azócar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Castillo, and the manager let it.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Portuguesa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer from Persija for Miguel Machis 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 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 Atletico Venezuela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: PSIM have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Junior Soteldo. The answer from Atletico Venezuela has not changed — yet.
Match1 Aug 2026
Deportivo Lara left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andres Ferraresi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout3 Aug 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.