Daniel Martinez

Striker - Llaneros
26 Apr 2027
Monday
Process

Marked for Daniel Martinez

37 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jose Rondon damages knee ligaments — 89 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 89 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

A fracture rules Francisco Rincon out for 75 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gabriel Soteldo

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

André 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Francisco Murillo’s goal not enough for Llaneros

Francisco Murillo scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Zulia, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Erick Sarmiento

“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

Back issues
34 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jose Rondon damages knee ligaments — 110 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 110 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

A fracture rules Francisco Rincon out for 96 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 28 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Match

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

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

Player ratings

Gabriel Soteldo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Llaneros

Gabriel Soteldo 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

Francisco Murillo 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

A bad afternoon for Llaneros against Deportivo Tachira

0‑1 to Deportivo Tachira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Daniel Martinez keeps on missing

Shots: 4, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

30 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Rafael Cordova damages knee ligaments — 96 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 96 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

Llaneros taken apart

1‑4 to Caracas, 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Gabriel Soteldo

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

Squad

Tempers go at Llaneros

André 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 Llaneros training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Ferrer 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

Llaneros supporters have found a favourite in David Savarino

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. David Savarino 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Gabriel Soteldo

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

Player ratings

One of those days for David Savarino

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.36, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Llaneros 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.

In brief

29 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Rafael Cordova damages knee ligaments — 103 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 103 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

Francisco Murillo 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Francisco Ferraresi 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

The manager makes an example of Francisco Murillo

“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

Home is on Belia's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Llaneros are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Loan watch

Rafael Gonzalez has seen enough of Mineros de Guayana

“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 Llaneros, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

15 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Francisco Murillo 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Savarino 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 Daniel Martinez

“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

14 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Erick Sarmiento 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

Oscar Martinez 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The armband comes off Daniel Martinez

Llaneros 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.

In brief

4 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

FCSB come back empty-handed

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

Squad

Erick Sarmiento 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Murillo 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

2 Edition

The Llaneros Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Gabriel Soteldo 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

A one-man rearguard from Gabriel Arango

There were 8 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.

Market

Francisco Murillo’s move to New York City falls through

The deal that would have taken Francisco Murillo to New York City has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Llaneros with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

In brief