David Castillo

Attacking Midfielder (C) - New England Revolution
26 Sep 2028
Tuesday
Process

Marked for David Castillo

99 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Leganés come back empty-handed

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

Market

La Equidad get their man

The chase for David Agudelo ended with $110.0K changing hands and Depor out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Dairon Asprilla

“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.

Match

A bad afternoon for La Equidad against Cortulua

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

Market

Valledupar expected to open talks for David Castillo

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

Squad

David Castillo 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

Ederson Moreno is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at La Equidad has been clear about where Ederson Moreno stands, which is more than many ever get.

Squad

Richard Lemos 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

Back issues
96 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Both of them Edwin Falcao's — 8.67

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.67, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at La Equidad

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Sergio Ramirez 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Edwin Falcao the difference as La Equidad beat Deportivo Cali

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Edwin Falcao. 3‑2 against Deportivo Cali, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

David Castillo was on a different afternoon to everybody else

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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to David Castillo

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.

Squad

No hiding place for Sergio Ramirez

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

Squad

Edwin Falcao is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.20 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ederson 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.

In brief

93 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at La Equidad has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Sergio Ramirez signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sergio Ramirez and La Equidad agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Match

La Equidad come up short against Envigado

Envigado left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Edwin Falcao gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Edwin Falcao

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Alejandro Arias is the division's best young player this month

At 19 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. La Equidad will try very hard not to make too much of it.

Player ratings

Alejandro Arias leaves them behind him

Shots: 4. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Boardroom

$3.2M taken back off the La Equidad table

What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.

In brief

92 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Juan José Castaño keeps the receipts

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

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at La Equidad

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at La Equidad is running low.

Squad

Sergio Ramirez 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Ribeiro 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

Edwin Falcao runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

La Equidad come up short against Real Cartagena

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

Squad

The manager makes an example of Cristián Cañozales

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Sergio Ramirez

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.

Player ratings

Freddy Cardona could not find anything

5.57. 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.

In brief

91 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

La Equidad run riot against Alianza Petrolera

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Alejandro Arias scores twice — 8.77

Two goals and a mark of 8.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ederson Moreno

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ederson Moreno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around La Equidad the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Squad

Daniel Ribeiro 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

La Equidad supporters have found a favourite in David Castillo

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. David Castillo 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 Dairon Asprilla

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

Player ratings

Johan Barrios was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.67. 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Raúl Rodríguez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

78 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

The unthinkable, invoiced: Mateo Cordoba sold

Real Sociedad arrived with $5.0M 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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Reynaldo Fontalvo

There were 6 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 terraces

La Equidad sell a favourite for $5.0M

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Mateo Cordoba was one of the reasons people came, and $5.0M does not replace that by itself.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Dairon Asprilla yet — 8.39

At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.39 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Sergio Ramirez 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Graduation day at La Equidad

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

The manager makes an example of Daniel Ribeiro

“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.

Market

Jose Mina steps up from the La Equidad academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jose Mina 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

La Equidad promote Camilo Quintero from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Camilo Quintero 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.

In brief

77 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at La Equidad has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Market

David Castillo 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 La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

La Equidad say no — this time

The offer from Grasshopper for David Cardona 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

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Squad

Daniel Ribeiro 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

7 new faces, and La Equidad are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

In brief

75 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

3 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The interim tag comes off Mateo Cuadrado

La Equidad interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Mateo Cuadrado keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.

Market

La Equidad say no — this time

The offer from SonderjyskE for Hector Bacca 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

Ederson Moreno 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 La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

The season belongs to Johan Barrios

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 La Equidad have had the benefit of it.

Market

Eyes on David Cardona again

The phone has started ringing about David Cardona again, and this time the name on the line is Guarani. La Equidad are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Hector Bacca 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

73 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at La Equidad spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

David Castillo 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 La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.

The terraces

La Equidad sell a favourite for $220.0K

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Samuel Nardo was one of the reasons people came, and $220.0K does not replace that by itself.

Squad

Duván Córdoba: 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.” La Equidad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

La Equidad sell Samuel Nardo for $220.0K

Samuel Nardo has left for Barranquilla in a $220.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Ribeiro 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

69 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at La Equidad spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

Freddy Herrera damages knee ligaments — 137 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 137 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

David Castillo 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 La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.

In brief

65 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at La Equidad spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

Fernando Quintero breaks a bone — 16 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

David Castillo asks to leave La Equidad

“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.

In brief

61 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

13 matches without a win for La Equidad

The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around La Equidad are no longer polite ones.

The terraces

Anger at La Equidad spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Juan Quintero

41 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.

Squad

Fernando Quintero breaks a bone — 44 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Richard Lemos keeps La Equidad in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

David Castillo 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 La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Edwin Falcao

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

Squad

Sergio Ramirez 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Johan Barrios wants to come home

“I did not go to Brisbane Roar to sit and watch. I want to come back to La Equidad and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

In brief

56 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Juan Quintero damages knee ligaments — 81 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 81 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 La Equidad

8 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

Juan José Castaño asks to leave La Equidad

“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

Roberto Vanegas keeps the receipts

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

Player ratings

A first appearance Yeison Murillo will want to forget — 5.43

Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.43, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Squad

Daniel Ribeiro 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.

Player ratings

Edwin Falcao 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.

Loan watch

Sebastian Ospina counts the days

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

In brief

52 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

David Castillo 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 La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Richard Lemos keeps La Equidad in it on his own

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.

Market

Sportivo Trinidense join the queue for Jefferson Rangel

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.

Match

The wait goes on for La Equidad

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.

Squad

Daniel Ribeiro 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

Raúl Rodríguez 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

La Equidad leaking at the back

4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Match

Independiente Medellin take the points off La Equidad

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Edwin Falcao runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

48 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

$870.0K — a new record at La Equidad

No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.

Market

David Castillo asks to leave La Equidad

“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.

Market

La Equidad turn down Metropolitanos for Johan Barrios

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for La Equidad — 7.94

1 for Jefferson Rangel, marked 7.94, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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 terraces

$870.0K for Cristián Cañozales, and La Equidad 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: Cristián Cañozales from Aguilas Doradas for $870.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.

Squad

Daniel Ribeiro 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

Jefferson Rangel sends La Equidad past Deportes Quindio

It finished 2‑1, and it was Jefferson Rangel’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to La Equidad.

Squad

Dairon Asprilla signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dairon Asprilla and La Equidad agree another 2 years.

In brief

46 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Javier Uribe keeps the receipts

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

Player ratings

A first appearance Rafael Granados will want to forget — 5.46

Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.46, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Market

Luis Rivas is a La Equidad player

The fee is $92.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Bogota drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

The terraces

La Equidad spend $92.0K on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $92.0K for Luis Rivas, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Match

Cortulua take the points off La Equidad

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

David Castillo 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 Jefferson Rangel

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

Market

La Equidad buy the years ahead of Rafael Granados

He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

In brief

43 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

5 matches without a win for La Equidad

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

Squad

Hector Bacca 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Sergio Ramirez

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

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Edwin Falcao

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Castillo 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

Sebastian Ospina counts the days

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

Squad

Richard Lemos asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Player ratings

The one thing Jorge Mina could not do

Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Match

La Equidad and Santa Fe cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Santa Fe came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

42 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Millonarios punish La Equidad for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Daniel Ribeiro will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at La Equidad escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Match

No end in sight to La Equidad's wait for a win

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

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Squad

Daniel Ribeiro 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Edwin Falcao at his very best

Marked 8.82. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at La Equidad.

Squad

The manager makes an example of David Castillo

“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.

Match

Daniel Ribeiro rescues a point for La Equidad

It needed Daniel Ribeiro to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Millonarios, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Player ratings

John Tarazona turns it into his own net

Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. La Equidad deserved better, and so did he.

Squad

La Equidad pick somebody else ahead of Hector Ramirez

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

40 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

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.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Squad

Hector Bacca 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

Envigado take the points off La Equidad

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

Squad

David Castillo 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

Carlos Barrios counts the days

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

Player ratings

Edwin Falcao leaves them behind him

Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Squad

John Tarazona 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

Nobody could get near Daniel Ribeiro

Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

37 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

La Equidad sink to position 19

7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Match

No end in sight to La Equidad's wait for a win

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

Player ratings

Age has not caught Sergio Ramirez yet — 8.11

At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.11 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Richard Lemos

“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

David Castillo 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

James Gomez wants to come home

“I did not go to Deportes Quindio to sit and watch. I want to come back to La Equidad and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.

Player ratings

Daniel Ribeiro runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

La Equidad and Patriotas take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

30 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to La Equidad's wait for a win

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

Squad

Sergio Ramirez 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Deportivo Pasto take the points off La Equidad

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Hector Bacca 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Edwin Falcao at his very best

Marked 8.35. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at La Equidad.

Squad

Hector Bacca 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at La Equidad

5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

Player ratings

Mateo Cordoba never got going

5.56 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Player ratings

Jorge Mina could not find anything

5.69. 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.

In brief

28 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for La Equidad

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.

Squad

Hector Bacca 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

No place for Hector Bacca in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hector Bacca has his answer from La Equidad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Match

Alianza Petrolera take the points off La Equidad

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

No hiding place for Richard Lemos

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

Player ratings

Edwin Falcao in the eights

A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Loan watch

Carlos Barrios counts the days

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

Squad

Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Tarazona 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

Hector Ramirez 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

27 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

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.” 8 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Match

No end in sight to La Equidad's wait for a win

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

Squad

Tempers go at La Equidad

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.

Market

No place for Edwin Falcao in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Edwin Falcao has his answer from La Equidad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Match

A bad afternoon for La Equidad against Cortulua

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

Squad

No hiding place for David Castillo

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

Squad

Freddy Caicedo signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Freddy Caicedo commits to La Equidad for another 4 years.

Loan watch

Sebastian Ospina has seen enough of Deportivo Pasto

“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 La Equidad, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

John Tarazona 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.

In brief

24 Edition

The La Equidad Sentinel

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

The unthinkable, invoiced: Ivan Gonzalez sold

FC Nantes arrived with $2.8M 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.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $2.8M sale of Ivan Gonzalez

He is going to FC Nantes, the club has $2.8M 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

So close: Jorge Mina’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Cortulua moved on, Jorge Mina reports back to La Equidad, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

In brief