The Zulia Chronicle
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A debut Rafael Arango will not forget — 7.94
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.94 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Match1 Aug 2026
Rafael Arango wins it after the whistle should have gone
97 minutes played. Rafael Arango found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Zamora went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Junior Rincon 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Zulia find a way past Zamora
Zamora made Zulia work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
Zulia supporters have found a favourite in Rafael Arango
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Rafael Arango 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Carlos Soteldo
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sergio Cordova signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sergio Cordova commits to Zulia for another 1 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
David Soteldo 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 Soteldo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad3 Aug 2026
David Martinez 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.
In brief
- Market Zulia put Sergio Murillo up for sale
- Player ratings David Soteldo ran the game