Marked for Nicolas Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 The request is on a desk at La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Arouca come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and La Equidad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for La Equidad
5 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andres Ramirez 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Muriel, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Johan Santos was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the La Equidad dressing room was either.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Fernando Braga is the weekend's best young player
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Luis Palacios has left for Everton in a $18.1M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Aug 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Rafael Uribe wants continental football; whether La Equidad can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolas Ramirez and La Equidad agree another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Fabian Lopez 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match8 Aug 2026
A goal on 89 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Match8 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolas Ramirez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
A row about effort at La Equidad
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Duvan Herrera
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market3 Aug 2026
Aston Villa come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and La Equidad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.99 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A debut Fernando Braga will not forget — 7.22
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.22 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market3 Aug 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether La Equidad can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Luis Palacios 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Three points for La Equidad, 3‑1 the final word against Santa Fe in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 17 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.