Pedro Gallese 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.
22 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
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 8.92 — 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.52 — 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.
The name of Cristian Alomía has come up in conversations Deportivo Cali were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The deal that would have taken Juan Felipe Morales to Once Caldas has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Deportivo Cali with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Sergio Perez 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
“I watch every Deportivo Cali game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Independiente Medellin runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
0‑3 to America de Cali, 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Cali have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal that would have taken Felipe Aguilar to Millonarios has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Deportivo Cali with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Pedro Gallese 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ronaldo Pájaro 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.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Cali 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 Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Franco Jaroszewicz 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.
29 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Pedro Gallese 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.
A performance of 9.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
Johan Martínez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportivo Cali can pretend not to have heard.
Pedro Gallese 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.
A 3‑2 win over Union Magdalena, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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 9.20 — 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
He is 18, he is averaging 6.50, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nicolas Vargas has his answer from Deportivo Cali; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Marked 8.80 — 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.
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.
Pedro Gallese 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.
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.
Pedro Gallese 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Gustavo Cuéllar'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.
7 goals in 17 games at Once Caldas — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Deportivo Cali updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Pedro Gallese and Deportivo Cali agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Ronaldo Pájaro will want back
Sergio Perez 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Joan Gómez 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.
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.
5 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Jhon Aponza could not do
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Luis Orejuela wants continental football; whether Deportivo Cali can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Pedro Gallese 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Johan Martínez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Pedro Gallese 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Joan Gómez in the middle of it, and Alianza Petrolera unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Deportivo Cali and Patriotas in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Patriotas made Deportivo Cali work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Cristian Alomía 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.
Marked 8.35 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
4 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
4 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Pedro Gallese 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.
23 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
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.” Deportivo Cali have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
Pedro Gallese 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.
9 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Joan Gómez 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.” Sergio Perez has his answer from Deportivo Cali; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeison Angulo 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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 easiest signature of my career.” Felipe Aguilar and Deportivo Cali agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The goal that put Deportivo Pereira ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Deportivo Cali equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Universitario Popayan had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Deportivo Cali did not stop to explain themselves.
Pedro Gallese 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.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cristian Peñate. 2‑1 against Universitario Popayan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Camilo Perez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rafael Muriel 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. Santiago 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Pedro Gallese 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Manuel Arango and Deportivo Cali agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
Federico Vietto 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Orozco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Cali the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ronaldo Pájaro 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Cali have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Emanuel Reynoso 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
SquadNicolas Vargas 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 Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
Nobody at Deportivo Cali 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
“I did not go to Atletico Nacional to sit and watch. I want to come back to Deportivo Cali and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 42 matches say the rest.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Cali have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 19 combined actions and a mark of 7.77, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Luis Orejuela wants continental football; whether Deportivo Cali can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
A season average of 7.18 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Deportivo Cali know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
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.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 33 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Orozco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Cali the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Juan Esteban Gallego is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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 watch every Deportivo Cali game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Patriotas runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Joan Gómez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I watch every Deportivo Cali game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Atletico Nacional runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolas Vargas wants continental football; whether Deportivo Cali can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
“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 Deportivo Cali, and 5 appearances in 35 say he has earned the hearing.
8.94. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Orozco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Cali the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan Esteban Gallego 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.
Jhon Aponza, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.52
A mark of 8.52 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.14, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Ronaldo Pájaro 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.
“I watch every Deportivo Cali game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Patriotas runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Alianza Petrolera kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Deportivo Cali will be asked about the last half hour all week.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jhon Aponza did not need any: 8.34, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Tití Rodríguez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“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 La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Add another name to the list: Sportivo Trinidense have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jefferson Rangel. The answer from La Equidad has not changed — yet.
4 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 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 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.
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Fernando Álvarez 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Fernando Álvarez at his very best
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.
“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 Deportivo Cali hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“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 Deportivo Cali, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Fernando Álvarez again, and this time the name on the line is Depor. Deportivo Cali are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cristián Mosquera has just signed for Deportivo Cali, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Vargas 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Add another name to the list: Junior have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samuel Montero. The answer from Deportivo Cali has not changed — yet.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jhon Aponza did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolas Vargas wants continental football; whether Deportivo Cali can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samuel Montero and Deportivo Cali agree another 4 years.
“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 Deportivo Cali hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Luis Orejuela wants continental football; whether Deportivo Cali can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ronaldo Pájaro 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Joan Gómez is the division's best young player this month
At 21 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. Deportivo Cali will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“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 Deportivo Cali, and 1 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
There were 7 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.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Jhon Aponza, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.31
A mark of 8.31 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolas Vargas wants continental football; whether Deportivo Cali can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joan Gómez did not need any: 8.59, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Correa 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.
“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 Deportivo Cali, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Deportivo Cali have had the benefit of it.
The offer from Depor for Matías Orozco 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.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Cali lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Santa Fe for Juan Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Emanuel Reynoso 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 name of Fernando Álvarez has come up in conversations Deportivo Cali were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
149 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Cali lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The chase for Nicolas Vargas ended with $1.1M changing hands and La Equidad out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Emanuel Reynoso 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 Dec 2026
Andrés Correa 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.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. La Equidad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Deportivo Cali paid $1.1M and La Equidad took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Deportivo Pasto have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sebastian Ospina. The answer from La Equidad has not changed — yet.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Mina 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.
A new face in his position, and Hector Bacca suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. La Equidad have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jefferson Rangel wants continental football; whether La Equidad can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alejandro Lopez and La Equidad agree another 4 years.
“I watch every La Equidad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Urawa Reds runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Mina 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.
Carlos Barrios 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.
Hector Bacca 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Urawa Reds to sit and watch. I want to come back to La Equidad and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Mina 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Freddy Cardona has come out of that comparison in the side, and La Equidad have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at La Equidad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
In brief
SquadWords at La Equidad training over how hard people work
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oscar Santos 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.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Independiente Medellin defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Sergio Ramirez 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 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.
Marked 8.43 — 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.
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jorge Mina 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.
7.96, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
4 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.