“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mineros de Guayana can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
José Pinto 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mineros de Guayana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Pinto 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maiker Rivas has his answer from Mineros de Guayana; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
José Rondón, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 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.
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
José Pinto 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. José Rondón 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” José Pinto has his answer from Mineros de Guayana; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yefferson Colmenárez. 2‑0 against Llaneros, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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 Mineros de Guayana, and 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rafael Martinez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Francisco Ferraresi 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Roberto Gonzalez 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Roberto Otero is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estudiantes de Caracas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Mineros de Guayana arrived with $490.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes de Caracas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Miguel Ramirez was one of the reasons people came, and $490.0K does not replace that by itself.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Uri Lima has just signed for Estudiantes de Caracas, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 Mineros de Guayana, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $490.0K for Miguel Ramirez, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan José Forero and Mineros de Guayana agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Pinto 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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estudiantes de Caracas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estudiantes de Caracas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
The fee is $40.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Zamora drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $40.0K for Ítalo Sulbarán, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estudiantes de Caracas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal that would have taken Miguel Ramirez to Deportivo Lara has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Estudiantes de Caracas with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and it is not being withdrawn.
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: Chris Martínez from Caracas for $52.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salomon Arango 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.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estudiantes de Caracas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estudiantes de Caracas can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Savarino and Estudiantes de Caracas agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Estudiantes de Caracas has been clear about where Alejandro Rondon stands, which is more than many ever get.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estudiantes de Caracas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadSalomon Arango falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 57 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.
“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 Estudiantes de Caracas, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadSalomon Arango falls out with a teammate over standards
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estudiantes de Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 6.59 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlos Savarino and Estudiantes de Caracas agree another 2 years.
Darwin Castillo 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.
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.
Marked 6.67 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.