Marked for Ivan Quintero
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Nov 2027
Supporters organise against the Valledupar board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fábio Alves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Jose Rangel 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 Jose Rangel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Ivan Quintero 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 Ivan Quintero is on it.
Market29 Nov 2027
Valledupar have let the market know Ivan Quintero can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Nov 2027
Anger at Valledupar spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market1 Nov 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 The request is on a desk at Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Felipe Lemos 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Alejandro Valencia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Fábio Alves 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager's exit leaves Fábio Alves exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Fábio Alves is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Valledupar will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Squad1 Nov 2027
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. Diego Castillo has moved up it.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Ivan Quintero 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Oct 2027
Jose Rangel 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 Valledupar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fernando Lemos commits to Valledupar for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Diaz 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
Jose Rangel 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market4 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ivan Quintero may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Alejandro Valencia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Alves 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 dugout6 Sep 2027
Ivan Quintero 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Andres Lemos has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Valledupar will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market6 Sep 2027
Valledupar have made Ivan Quintero available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
Jose Rangel 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 Valledupar can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Alves 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Richard Sinisterra and Valledupar agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Fábio Alves 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 dugout9 Aug 2027
Andres Lemos gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Jul 2027
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market26 Jul 2027
Felipe Lemos 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 Valledupar can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Window shuts: 0 in, 2 out at Valledupar
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Alejandro Valencia 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A muscle injury and 15 days out for Javier Sinisterra
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Valledupar will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Alves 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
The clock did what Llaneros would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Atletico Nacional: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Depor had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market19 Jul 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Oscar Ramirez has left for Saburtalo in a $950.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad19 Jul 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 Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Fábio Alves 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Valledupar have made the call to Cortulua. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
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 Alejandro Valencia is on it.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
David Ospina 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 David Ospina trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The move was somebody else's story. What it left behind was a dressing-room stall nobody has taken and a player who keeps looking at it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Deportes Tolima keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Alejandro Valencia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Diego Diaz 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
Wages eat 93% of everything Valledupar earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Alianza Petrolera: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Valledupar
Position 11 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match29 May 2027
0‑3 to Llaneros, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market31 May 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.
Match29 May 2027
8 matches without a win for Valledupar
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Valledupar are no longer polite ones.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valledupar may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2027
Alejandro Valencia 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oscar Ramirez 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout31 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Pablo Montero to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
Hugo Gonzalez damages knee ligaments — 74 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
1‑4 against Fortaleza CEIF, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The Valledupar board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Market8 Feb 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
4 matches without a win for Valledupar
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Valledupar are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oscar Ramirez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match6 Feb 2027
Valledupar are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market8 Feb 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Fernando Lemos has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Valledupar.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Feb 2027
Hugo Gonzalez damages knee ligaments — 81 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
Market1 Feb 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Oscar Ramirez 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fábio Alves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market1 Feb 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alejandro Valencia has his answer from Valledupar; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad1 Feb 2027
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match30 Jan 2027
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Ivan Quintero had Valledupar level again within 1 minutes, and Alianza Petrolera never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valledupar lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Jan 2027
20 days out for David Ospina after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valledupar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Fernando Lemos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
1 academy players handed senior numbers at Valledupar
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oscar Ramirez 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 terraces25 Jan 2027
At 19 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Camilo Lopez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hugo Gonzalez
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valledupar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Dec 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 Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Diaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Ivan Quintero, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.