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.
“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.
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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergio Ramirez. 2‑0 against Deportes Tolima, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at La Equidad pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
Position 18 and 34 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
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 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Nobody at La Equidad 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alejandro Lopez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
13 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Mateo Cuadrado has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Duván Córdoba 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.” Dairon Asprilla and La Equidad agree another 2 years.
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
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.
Ajax arrived with $34.2M 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.
12 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.
The terraces28 Aug 2028
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.
The offer from Fehervar for Alejandro Lopez 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.
He is going to Ajax, the club has $34.2M 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.
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 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.
“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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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 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 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 9 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Daniel Ribeiro at his very best
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Mateo Cuadrado has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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.
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.
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.
5 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
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.
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.
The offer from FCSB for John Tarazona 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.
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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
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.
Josseph Mosquera is 19, and La Equidad have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The offer from DAC Dunajska Streda for Alejandro Lopez 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.13 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Reynaldo Fontalvo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
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 La Equidad 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Freddy Cardona 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Richard Lemos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad26 Jun 2028
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.
Marked 5.46. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon John Tarazona will want back
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.
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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at La Equidad has been clear about where Ederson Moreno stands, which is more than many ever get.
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
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Sergio Ramirez
The offer from O'Higgins for Johan Barrios 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.
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.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yimar Parra is living that version at La Equidad, and it tends to show in the first month.
“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 21 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
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 ratings29 May 2028
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.
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.
A season average of 7.20 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad29 May 2028
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.
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.
“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 La Equidad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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 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 19 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.
“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.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Daniel Ribeiro 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.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between La Equidad and Deportes Tolima, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad15 May 2028
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.
“I watch every La Equidad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Wasl runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 May 2028
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.
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.
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.
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.
Squad1 May 2028
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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. 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.
“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 ratings24 Apr 2028
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.74 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
Yan Mosquera 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Alejandro Arias 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.
“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 ratings17 Apr 2028
Edwin Falcao was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.43. 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 La Equidad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Wasl runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Llaneros kept coming because nothing stopped them, and La Equidad will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.91 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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 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 hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alejandro Arias did not need any: 7.93, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 La Equidad 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
America de Cali left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Pablo Perez is the division's best young player this month
At 18 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.
A brace, and Edwin Falcao takes the afternoon — 9.74
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Edwin Falcao provided it, and the 9.74 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at La Equidad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
6 goals in one match, Edwin Falcao on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of La Equidad and Once Caldas.
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
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Hector Ramirez
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.
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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
0‑1 to Atletico Nacional, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Mar 2028
5 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.
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.
Marked 5.50. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Union Magdalena will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. La Equidad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Alejandro Arias 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.
20 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Union Magdalena spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Edwin Falcao at his very best
1‑5 against Deportivo Pereira, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.86 for the rest of 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 La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between La Equidad and Deportivo Pereira, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
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.
15 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.
“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.
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.
22 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.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
A brace, and Edwin Falcao takes the afternoon — 8.92
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Edwin Falcao provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
“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.
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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Cortulua spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and La Equidad will not try tonight.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Roberto Vanegas has his answer from La Equidad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
29 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.
“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.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ederson Moreno has agreed terms with Junior for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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 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 5.54. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
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.
The offer from Manchester City for Raúl Rodríguez 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.
“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.
“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.
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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
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.
“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 La Equidad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. La Equidad will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The chase for Reynaldo Fontalvo ended with $190.0K changing hands and Real Cartagena out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The words a physio says slowly. 114 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.
He is going to Once Caldas, the club has $1.4M 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.
“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.
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.
Day 12 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
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 end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Kevin Gonzalez clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
122 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.
“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.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Mateo Cuadrado recited it perfectly.
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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 130 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.
Position 18 and 31 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
14 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
In brief
SquadDaniel Ribeiro falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
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.
Once Caldas made La Equidad work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad11 Oct 2027
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.
Marked 5.50. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
La Equidad interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Kevin Gonzalez keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 18 and 27 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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.
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 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.
73 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason La Equidad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
30 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Duván Córdoba is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“I watch every La Equidad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportes Quindio runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” La Equidad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
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.
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 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 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.
“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.
Position 18 and 23 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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 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.
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.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Manuel Santos recited it perfectly.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at La Equidad heard it as anything else.
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.
A conversation is coming this week. La Equidad will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad2 Aug 2027
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.
Alejandro Arias had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Atletico Nacional were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alejandro Arias provided it, and the 8.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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 terraces19 Jul 2027
La Equidad spend $470.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $470.0K for Juan José Castaño, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad19 Jul 2027
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Alejandro Arias 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.
“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.
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 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 La Equidad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Atletico Bucaramanga runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Sergio Ramirez
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Luis Rios has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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.
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
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.
“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 26 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
1‑4 against Alianza Petrolera, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Jorge Mina was one of the reasons people came, and $110.0K does not replace that by itself.
1 for Jefferson Rangel, marked 7.71, 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.
“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 La Equidad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. La Equidad will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The chase for Jhon Palacios ended with $310.0K changing hands and Fortaleza CEIF out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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 terraces21 Jun 2027
La Equidad spend $310.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $310.0K for Jhon Palacios, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Alianza Petrolera pay $110.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
In brief
SquadWords at La Equidad training over how hard people work
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” La Equidad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
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.
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 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 terraces14 Jun 2027
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.
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 offer from Nautico 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.
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.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.08 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Jefferson Rangel scored, was marked 7.49, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
7 goals in one match, Edwin Falcao on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of La Equidad and America de Cali.
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
0‑3 to Once Caldas, 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.
The terraces31 May 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.” 7 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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 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.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether La Equidad can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
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.
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
“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.
2‑3 to Deportes Tolima, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 May 2027
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.
The goal that put Deportes Tolima ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when La Equidad equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“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 19 matches say the rest.
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.
“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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.63 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Daniel Ribeiro’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to La Equidad.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Daniel Ribeiro was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. 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 did not go to Deportivo Pasto to sit and watch. I want to come back to La Equidad and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
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
The terracesThe press have found their man in Sergio Ramirez
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Sergio Ramirez scored in the 85th minute, Deportivo Pereira had already begun thinking about the journey home, and La Equidad took the lot.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.17 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
A 2‑1 win over Deportivo Pereira, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“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 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: CF Montreal will make the call about Mateo Cordoba this week. La Equidad have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“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 9 say he has earned the hearing.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Mateo Cordoba is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Jaguares will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Mateo Cordoba, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.27
A mark of 8.27 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
A first appearance David Martinez will want to forget — 5.58
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.58, 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.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Mateo Cordoba again, and this time the name on the line is Valerenga. La Equidad are listening politely and promising nothing.
At 18 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.
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 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.
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.
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around La Equidad are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Mateo Cordoba, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.71
A mark of 7.71 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
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.
The name of David Cardona has come up in conversations La Equidad were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
The offer from Estudiantes de Merida 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.
The phone has started ringing about Ivan Gonzalez again, and this time the name on the line is FC Nantes. La Equidad are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. La Equidad will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
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.
“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.
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.
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.