Marked for Gabriel Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Benicio Blanco 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel 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.
Squad14 Sep 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Llaneros march on in the cup
Deportivo Lara are out and Llaneros go through, 4‑3 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.89, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Carlos Herrera at 19 — 8.42
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Carlos Herrera did not need any: 8.42, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Oscar Machis again, and this time the name on the line is Fatih Karagumruk. Llaneros are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match19 Aug 2026
Nobody wants to play Llaneros right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Aug 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Llaneros and Deportivo Lara in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match8 Aug 2026
The 4-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Oscar Machis was at the centre of it, Aragua were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.84, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Oscar Machis, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 5‑4 win over Aragua, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rafael Arango and Llaneros agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Erick Sarmiento 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.