Marked for Edwin Gonzalez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Oct 2027
A fracture rules Edwin Gonzalez out for 14 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valledupar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Jorge Restrepo 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Freddy Caicedo 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
The manager makes an example of Santiago Ospina
“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 dugout25 Oct 2027
Hector Romero asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Andres Lemos has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valledupar 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Jorge Restrepo 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 44 days on the sidelines for Pablo Rodriguez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
David Vargas: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valledupar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Jorge Restrepo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Hector Romero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Edwin Gonzalez is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Freddy Caicedo 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 dugout20 Sep 2027
Diego Moreno knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valledupar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paulo Oliveira, and the manager let it.
Market20 Sep 2027
Valledupar have made Alejandro Vargas available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Jun 2027
Javier Santos damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“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.
The terraces21 Jun 2027
Valledupar sell a favourite for $940.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Juan Rios was one of the reasons people came, and $940.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market21 Jun 2027
“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 Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Edwin Gonzalez is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
3 matches without a goal for Valledupar
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Hugo Cuadrado 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Barranquilla left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
In brief
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Squad
Time is catching up with Carlos Ibargüen
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Boardroom
Wages swallow 98% of the Valledupar income
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The dugout
The view from the dugout