Hector Valencia

Striker - Independiente
21 Aug 2027
Saturday
Process

Marked for Hector Valencia

55 Edition

The Independiente Herald

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Hector Valencia takes the afternoon — 8.50

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Hector Valencia provided it, and the 8.50 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Rodrigo Rey in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Independiente this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Independiente training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Meza 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.

Match

Independiente see off Lanús

Three points for Independiente, 2‑1 the final word against Lanús in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Ignacio Díaz pulls a muscle — 14 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Squad

Ignacio Pussetto 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.

Loan watch

Bruno Fernández has seen enough of Neftchi

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Independiente, and 0 appearances in 27 say he has earned the hearing.

Player ratings

Santiago Arias could not find anything

4.98. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

Player ratings

Ignacio Pussetto runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

Back issues
54 Edition

The Independiente Herald

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Santiago Montiel runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Lionel Gómez says Independiente went back on their word

“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.

Match

Independiente make home a hard place to visit

12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Squad

Maximiliano Meza 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.

Boardroom

Independiente beat the market to Nicolás Figal from Boca Juniors

Boca Juniors will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nicolás Figal has pre-agreed a move to Independiente, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Loan watch

Alejandro Garay counts the days

“I watch every Independiente game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Columbus Crew runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

Independiente get the job done against Platense

A 1‑0 win over Platense, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Iván Marcone stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Iván Marcone and Independiente agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Independiente

Santiago Vera 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.

In brief

53 Edition

The Independiente Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Rodrigo Rey in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Independiente this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Lautaro Millán runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Rodrigo Rey 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.

Match

Vélez take the points off Independiente

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Loan watch

Álvaro Banquero counts the days

“I watch every Independiente game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zob Ahan runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Lautaro Millán named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lautaro Millán is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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 Independiente, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Walter Mazzantti’s exile

5 goals in 16 games at Newell's Old Boys — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Independiente updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

The Ignacio Díaz question follows Independiente around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ignacio Díaz’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

50 Edition

The Cortulua Post

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Hector Valencia sold, and an era ends

$4.6M from Independiente for Hector Valencia. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $4.6M sale of Hector Valencia

He is going to Independiente, the club has $4.6M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Squad

Jeison Angulo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Oscar Ramirez counts the days

“I watch every Cortulua game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at La Equidad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Atletico Bucaramanga

Atletico Bucaramanga left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Javier Mejia 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Óscar Cabezas

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Óscar Cabezas, and the manager let it.

Squad

Javier Mejia dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

50 Edition

The Independiente Herald

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Independiente spend $4.6M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $4.6M has been paid because Hector Valencia is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Market

Independiente sign Elián Giménez for $2.5M

The paperwork is done: Elián Giménez joins from Sarmiento in a deal worth $2.5M. Now comes the harder part.

Squad

Lucas Lavagnino: 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.” Independiente have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Independiente

Rodrigo Rey 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.

Market

Rentistas are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Independiente will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Loan watch

Alejandro Garay counts the days

“I watch every Independiente game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Columbus Crew runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

49 Edition

The Cortulua Post

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Sebastián González 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Market

As if he never left: Jeison Angulo returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Jeison Angulo is a Cortulua player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Market

The Llaneros deal is off

Everything was agreed until it was not, and Jesus Santos reports back to Cortulua with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Tomás Velásquez

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Joaquín Molina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

$700.0K for Jeison Angulo, and Cortulua supporters approve

Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Jeison Angulo from Santa Fe for $700.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Loan watch

Fernando Caicedo has seen enough of La Equidad

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Javier Mejia

“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.

In brief

48 Edition

The Cortulua Post

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Hector Valencia 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

Sebastián González in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Tomás Maya

“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.

Loan watch

Diego Medina wants to come home

“I did not go to La Equidad to sit and watch. I want to come back to Cortulua and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.

Squad

Javier Mejia dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Match

Cortulua draw a blank against Deportivo Pereira

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Deportivo Pereira defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Market

Hugo Garcia told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Hugo Garcia has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Cortulua.

In brief

47 Edition

The Cortulua Post

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nicolas Montero sold, and an era ends

$7.6M from Junior for Nicolas Montero. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near James Uribe

Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

The Deportivo Pasto deal is off

Everything was agreed until it was not, and Hector Valencia reports back to Cortulua with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $7.6M sale of Nicolas Montero

He is going to Junior, the club has $7.6M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Market

Cortulua get their man

The chase for Jesús Mejía ended with $74.0K changing hands and Real Santander out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Squad

Joaquín Molina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Richard Moreno 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 terraces

Cortulua supporters have found a favourite in Joaquín Molina

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Joaquín Molina 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.

Match

Richard Moreno the difference as Cortulua beat La Equidad

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Richard Moreno. 1‑0 against La Equidad, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

In brief

46 Edition

The Cortulua Post

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

8 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Market

Cortulua say no — this time

The offer from Once Caldas for Hector Valencia was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Jesus Santos 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Joaquín Molina 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.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Aguilas Doradas

Aguilas Doradas left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Duvan Valencia 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.

Loan watch

Oscar Ramirez wants to come home

“I did not go to La Equidad to sit and watch. I want to come back to Cortulua and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 23 matches say the rest.

In brief

45 Edition

The Cortulua Post

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Independiente Medellin come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Cortulua did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Match

7 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Market

Jose Gonzalez asks to leave Cortulua

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Nicolas Montero 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.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cortulua against Jaguares

0‑2 to Jaguares, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Óscar Cabezas 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.

Loan watch

Fernando Caicedo has seen enough of La Equidad

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Nicolas Montero 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 Cortulua, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

44 Edition

The Cortulua Post

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Hector Valencia asks to leave Cortulua

“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.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

The wait goes on for Cortulua

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Nicolas Montero in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Hector Valencia’s goal not enough for Cortulua

Hector Valencia scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to America de Cali, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Joaquín Molina

“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.

Squad

Javier Mejia 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.

Loan watch

Diego Medina has seen enough of La Equidad

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Cortulua pick somebody else ahead of Hugo Cordoba

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

43 Edition

The Cortulua Post

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Nicolas Montero puts it in writing

“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 Cortulua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

5 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Nicolas Montero 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.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cortulua against Junior

1‑2 to Junior, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Hugo Cordoba

“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.

Loan watch

Julian Mina has seen enough of Alianza Petrolera

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 1 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Duvan Valencia has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cortulua 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.

In brief

42 Edition

The Cortulua Post

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nicolas Montero raises the bar for Cortulua

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Cortulua heard it as anything else.

Match

No end in sight to Cortulua's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cortulua has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Cortulua cannot find the net

4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near James Uribe

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

Mario Lorenzo 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.

Loan watch

Oscar Ramirez counts the days

“I watch every Cortulua game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at La Equidad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Cortulua pick somebody else ahead of Hugo Cordoba

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Squad

Nicolas Montero has to sit this one out

A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Cortulua lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.

In brief

41 Edition

The Cortulua Post

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Richard Moreno 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.

Match

Cortulua cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Loan watch

Fernando Caicedo has seen enough of La Equidad

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

Deportivo Cali take the points off Cortulua

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Sebastián González 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.

In brief

40 Edition

The Cortulua Post

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Hector Valencia 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Jorge Duque says Cortulua went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

Tomás Velásquez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Diego Medina has seen enough of La Equidad

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

No hiding place for Javier Mejia

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Javier Mejia, and the manager let it.

In brief

39 Edition

The Cortulua Post

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Óscar Cabezas keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cortulua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Joaquín Molina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Duvan Valencia

“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.

Loan watch

Julian Mina counts the days

“I watch every Cortulua game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Alianza Petrolera runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

No goals between Cortulua and Independiente Medellin

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Independiente Medellin will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

37 Edition

The Cortulua Post

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Cortulua

Beaten 0‑3 by Atletico Nacional, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Match

The wait goes on for Cortulua

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

The goals have deserted Cortulua

5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cortulua can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Nicolas Montero in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Hugo Cordoba

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Cortulua dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Loan watch

Fernando Caicedo counts the days

“I watch every Cortulua game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at La Equidad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Sebastian Cardona has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cortulua 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.

In brief

36 Edition

The Cortulua Post

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Hector Valencia 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Real improvement from Joaquín Molina at Cortulua

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Joaquín Molina is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

4 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Nicolas Montero 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.

Squad

Óscar Cabezas stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Óscar Cabezas and Cortulua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Cortulua

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cortulua against Deportes Tolima

0‑2 to Deportes Tolima, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Loan watch

Diego Medina counts the days

“I watch every Cortulua game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at La Equidad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

35 Edition

The Cortulua Post

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Styven Monsalve keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cortulua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Nicolas Montero wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cortulua hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Moreno 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.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Cortulua

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.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Union Magdalena

Union Magdalena left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Loan watch

Julian Mina counts the days

“I watch every Cortulua game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Alianza Petrolera runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Cortulua pick somebody else ahead of Duvan Valencia

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Squad

Erik Vásquez 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

34 Edition

The Cortulua Post

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Tomás Velásquez 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Óscar Cabezas

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Óscar Cabezas, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Oscar Ramirez counts the days

“I watch every Cortulua game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at La Equidad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Duvan Valencia dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Player ratings

Camilo Cuadrado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

33 Edition

The Cortulua Post

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

Tomás Velásquez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Fernando Caicedo wants to come home

“I did not go to La Equidad to sit and watch. I want to come back to Cortulua and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Sebastian Cardona's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Squad

Sebastian Cardona wants out of the spotlight

The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.

In brief

32 Edition

The Cortulua Post

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Hector Valencia puts it in writing

“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 Cortulua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Duvan Valencia signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Duvan Valencia commits to Cortulua for another 2 years.

Squad

Joaquín Molina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Richard Moreno 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.

Loan watch

Diego Medina has seen enough of La Equidad

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cortulua, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

Cortulua find a way past Real Cartagena

Real Cartagena made Cortulua work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Cortulua count the cost of losing Jorge Duque

28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Player ratings

Hector Valencia takes the honours

Marked 7.78 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Cortulua had the best player on the pitch.

In brief

30 Edition

The Cortulua Post

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Cortulua tear Deportes Quindio apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Deportes Quindio, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Hector Valencia scores twice — 8.48

Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Nicolas Montero 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.

Squad

Richard Moreno 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.

Market

Tobol expected to open talks for Luis Restrepo

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Cortulua will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Loan watch

Oscar Ramirez wants to come home

“I did not go to La Equidad to sit and watch. I want to come back to Cortulua and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 7 matches say the rest.

Squad

When it matters, Sebastian Cardona plays

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.

Squad

Duvan Valencia dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

29 Edition

The Cortulua Post

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Nicolas Montero wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cortulua hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Market

Eyes on Luis Restrepo again

The phone has started ringing about Luis Restrepo again, and this time the name on the line is Tobol. Cortulua are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Nicolas Montero in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Moreno 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Duvan Valencia

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Duvan Valencia, and the manager let it.

In brief

26 Edition

The Cortulua Post

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Javier Mejia damages knee ligaments — 35 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.

Match

The wait goes on for Cortulua

11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Market

Hector Valencia puts it in writing

“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 Cortulua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Cortulua

5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Squad

Richard Moreno 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Tomás Velásquez 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.

Market

Daniel Giraldo steps up from the Cortulua academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniel Giraldo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Hugo Garcia joins the Cortulua first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hugo Garcia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

25 Edition

The Cortulua Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Javier Mejia

43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cortulua lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Latina come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Cortulua did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Joaquín Molina 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.

In brief

23 Edition

The Cortulua Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Javier Mejia

57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cortulua lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Edwin Muriel breaks a bone — 27 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Cortulua say no — this time

The offer from Alianza Petrolera for Julian Mina was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Nicolas Montero in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Moreno 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 terraces

Supporters make their feelings known about Hector Valencia

The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Cortulua would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.

In brief

19 Edition

The Cortulua Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Javier Mejia damages knee ligaments — 86 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 86 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.

Market

Hector Valencia wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Tomás Velásquez signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tomás Velásquez and Cortulua agree another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Tomás Maya 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.

Squad

Tomás Velásquez 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.

Boardroom

Cortulua beat the market to Farid Tamayo from Real Cartagena

Real Cartagena will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Farid Tamayo has pre-agreed a move to Cortulua, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

In brief

16 Edition

The Cortulua Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Javier Mejia damages knee ligaments — 109 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.

Squad

Mario Lorenzo: 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.” Cortulua have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Hector 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.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work
10 Edition

The Cortulua Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

9 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Market

Cortulua may not be able to give Nicolas Montero what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolas Montero wants continental football; whether Cortulua can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Nicolas Montero 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.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Javier Mejia signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Javier Mejia commits to Cortulua for another 1 years.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

In brief

9 Edition

The Cortulua Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

8 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Market

Hector Valencia wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Hector Valencia in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cortulua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Once Caldas

Once Caldas left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Javier Mejia 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.

Squad

Edwin Muriel stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Edwin Muriel and Cortulua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

7 Edition

The Cortulua Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Cortulua

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Market

Nicolas Montero wants more than Cortulua are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near James Uribe

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Hector Valencia 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.

Match

Cortulua come up short against Santa Fe

Santa Fe left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

No hiding place for Luis Restrepo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Restrepo, and the manager let it.

Squad

Sebastian Cardona has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cortulua 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.

Squad

James Uribe is off the mark for Cortulua

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

6 Edition

The Cortulua Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near James Uribe

Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Cortulua say no — this time

The offer from Napredak for Javier Mejia was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Match

5 matches without a win for Cortulua

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Cortulua are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Squad

Cortulua lose Santiago Mina

17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Cortulua pick somebody else ahead of Alejandro Cardona

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

4 Edition

The Cortulua Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near James Uribe

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

No hiding place for James Uribe

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to James Uribe, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hector Valencia 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.

Player ratings

Richard Moreno takes the honours

Marked 7.90 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Cortulua had the best player on the pitch.

Match

Cortulua share the spoils with Atletico Nacional

A 1‑1 draw with Atletico Nacional leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Squad

Duvan Valencia has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cortulua 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Cortulua Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Leeds United join the queue for Jefferson Rangel

Add another name to the list: Leeds United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jefferson Rangel. The answer from Cortulua has not changed — yet.

Market

Hugo Garcia 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 Cortulua can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Nicolas Montero wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cortulua hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Tempers go at Cortulua

Nicolas Montero 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.

Market

Cortulua may not be able to give Hector Valencia what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Hector Valencia wants continental football; whether Cortulua can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Words at Cortulua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Restrepo 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.

Player ratings

James Uribe runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Nicolas Montero 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 Cortulua, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Player ratings

Sebastian Cardona stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.18 on the card, and the Cortulua support went home talking about one name.

In brief