It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Cardona 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Daniel Moreno has his answer from La Equidad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation La Equidad are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. La Equidad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Julian Perez 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Velásquez 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation La Equidad are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Edwin Laszo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Cardona was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and La Equidad are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Julian Rangel after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Daniel Moreno
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Julian Perez signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.01, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Johan Borja was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It needed Johan Borja to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Atletico Nacional, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Daniel Moreno is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Álvaro Solís has his answer from La Equidad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Deportivo Pasto will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. La Equidad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Johan Borja wants continental football; whether La Equidad can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Fernando Borja has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A brace, and Johan Borja takes the afternoon — 9.20
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Johan Borja provided it, and the 9.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
A 2‑0 win over Deportivo Pereira, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Julian Rangel could afford to be generous.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Julian Perez 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Leonardo Murillo keeps the shirt for now, at La Equidad's convenience rather than his own.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Brian Borja 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.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Daniel Lemos has moved up it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. La Equidad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Fernando Borja had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Julian Perez 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.
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Borja 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.