Marked for Edwin Diaz
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 May 2028
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patriotas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Patriotas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Éder Chaux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Edwin Diaz commits to Patriotas for another 3 years.
The dugout15 May 2028
“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.
The dugout15 May 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Jhonathan Caicedo
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.
The dugout15 May 2028
Johan Campaña 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 Johan Campaña is on it.
The dugout15 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Daniel Uribe was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Patriotas dressing room was either.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Patriotas can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
A brace, and Marlos Moreno takes the afternoon — 8.32
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marlos Moreno provided it, and the 8.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market13 Mar 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ferney Rivadeneira will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Patriotas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market13 Mar 2028
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Patriotas can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ferney Rivadeneira has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Brayan Fernández 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Patriotas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Éder Chaux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match11 Mar 2028
A 2‑0 win over Deportivo Pasto, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
A promise honoured at Patriotas
Something was said to Gonzalo Zelarayán and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
Pressure builds in the Patriotas boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Brayan Fernández 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Patriotas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Nike was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Cali have kept their man, and Patriotas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ferney Rivadeneira, and the manager let it.
Market17 Jan 2028
The name of Juan José Hurtado keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Patriotas say nothing, which says plenty.
Market17 Jan 2028
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Gonzalo Zelarayán arrives from Belgrano with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Patriotas have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Nov 2027
James Romero 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 La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Pablo Herrera
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pablo Herrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around La Equidad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market29 Nov 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Nov 2027
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Camilo Montero 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
Mateo Velasco has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at La Equidad 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Camilo Hernandez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad29 Nov 2027
The training reports on Edwin Diaz are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Oct 2027
“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.
Market25 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at La Equidad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kevin Barrios and La Equidad agree another 3 years.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Juan Cordoba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Camilo Montero 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
Kevin Barrios 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 Kevin Barrios trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Oct 2027
No place for Edwin Diaz in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Edwin Diaz has his answer from La Equidad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Héctor Solano 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 Héctor Solano is on it.
Market25 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jorman Campuzano’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Apr 2027
“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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A brace, and Nicolás Castro takes the afternoon — 8.41
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicolás Castro provided it, and the 8.41 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Nicolás Castro 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, La Equidad do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match17 Apr 2027
A 3‑1 win over Patriotas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.51 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Romero, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at La Equidad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Valencia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Oct 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for La Equidad
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around La Equidad are no longer polite ones.
Match10 Oct 2026
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a goal for La Equidad
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Jhonny Mena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market12 Oct 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dorlan Pabón 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
9 appearances away from home and 11 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Sep 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.
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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation La Equidad did not have in the autumn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at La Equidad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dorlan Pabón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Sep 2026
No place for Jhonny Mena in the new shape
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
The afternoon belonged to Duvan Moreno
A mark of 7.48, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Sebastian Sanchez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Fabian Cuadrado
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.