Marked for Edwin Borja
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Window shuts: 0 in, 0 out at Valledupar
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Javier Rodriguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Valledupar will try again when the window opens; Cortulua may not be selling by then.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Hurtado 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Hector Uribe
“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 dugout26 Jul 2027
Edwin Ospina 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.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market26 Jul 2027
The David Falcao talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valledupar know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Match26 Jul 2027
Valledupar have something to play for
Position 5 on 35 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 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 The request is on a desk at Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The paperwork begins on Juan Mina
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Valledupar have done the hard part with Universitario Popayan, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Julian Hurtado 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
David Falcao is the division's best young player this month
At 22 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Valledupar will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Valledupar sign 6 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.69, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
No sign of nerves from David Falcao at 21 — 7.70
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Falcao did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Javier Rodriguez 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 Jun 2027
At 21, David Falcao is already the best thing here
An average of 7.05 in a first team he is several years too young for. Valledupar have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Match12 Jun 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Victor Montero’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Valledupar.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Julian Hurtado 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Sebastian Medina could afford to be generous.
Squad14 Jun 2027
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Valledupar lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match1 May 2027
Still nobody has beaten Valledupar
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad3 May 2027
Nicolás Bruno 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Edwin Borja makes the wrong kind of headline
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Ospina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
Raised voices on the training ground at Valledupar
It involved Edwin Borja, it was loud enough to reach the car park, and it was over by lunch. Dressing rooms run hot; the ones that should worry you are the silent ones.
The dugout3 May 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout3 May 2027
Hector Uribe is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Match1 May 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Cortulua defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market3 May 2027
The David Falcao talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valledupar know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
1‑4 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
David Falcao, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match13 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Nicolás Bruno 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.
Match13 Mar 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.
Boardroom15 Mar 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 dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑4 Sebastian Medina left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Borja 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nicolás Bruno 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
David Falcao 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Edwin Borja 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
Edwin Borja 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.
Squad28 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 targets28 Dec 2026
Valledupar asked and Llaneros said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Union Magdalena have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Nicolas Santos 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Valledupar have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Cortulua; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Sebastian Rodriguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Valledupar asked and Llaneros said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Julian Hurtado
“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.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Llaneros have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Cuadrado 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Somebody is after Hugo Uribe’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Hugo Uribe suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Valledupar have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market21 Dec 2026
Valledupar shop where it costs nothing
Santino Robles signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
Market21 Dec 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nicolás Bruno and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Javier Rodriguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Falcao, and the manager let it.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 103% of the Valledupar income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
James Gomez 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
No place for Edwin Borja in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Edwin Borja has his answer from Valledupar; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Open for business: Valledupar enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Market7 Dec 2026
Valledupar have made Hugo Gomez available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Bruno and Valledupar agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Nicolás Bruno 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hugo Uribe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Nicolás Bruno 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
Edwin Borja 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.