Marked for Carlos Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos Ramirez
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Zulia
Edison Penilla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Zulia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bendrix Parra, and the manager let it.
Match20 Mar 2027
Mineros de Guayana left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Luis Cordova left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Kar Luis Sánchez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zulia 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
One booking too many, and Juan Tineo sits out. Zulia lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos Ramirez
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match13 Mar 2027
Zulia strike at the death to beat Carabobo
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Carabobo had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Zulia did not stop to explain themselves.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.86 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Zulia
Ronald Acuña 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Ramírez 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Junior Vargas’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zulia.
Match13 Mar 2027
Zulia keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhon Chacón, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Jhon Chacón 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zulia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Renzo Zambrano and Zulia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Zulia
Edison Penilla 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Bendrix Parra 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“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 ratings8 Mar 2027
17 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Juan Tineo
7.57, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zulia had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Jhon Chacón
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos Ramirez
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match24 Feb 2027
Zulia march on in the cup
Mineros de Guayana are out and Zulia go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A one-man rearguard from Moisés Gallo
There were 9 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.57, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Feb 2027
Zulia get the job done against Aragua
A 3‑1 win over Aragua, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Zulia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 14-year-old it feels ownership of. Alejandro Murillo 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos Ramirez
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Zulia
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Zulia
Edison Penilla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Feb 2027
Deportivo Lara left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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 ratings22 Feb 2027
Both jobs done by Ronald Acuña — 6.54
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.54, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Luis Cordova to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zulia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bendrix Parra 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Luis Corredor
“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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Jhon Chacón 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Caracas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Half-satisfied: Luis Cordova on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market15 Feb 2027
The Moisés Gallo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moisés Gallo signs something — a contract at Zulia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zulia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Zulia
Edison Penilla 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Zulia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Bendrix Parra
“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 ratings8 Feb 2027
Marked 7.60. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Jhon Chacón
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Luis Cordova was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Zulia dressing room was either.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Kevin Díaz knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos Ramirez
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Jan 2027
Estudiantes de Merida left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Moisés Gallo 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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The form table has caught Jhon Chacón
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Jhon Chacón 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Carlos Ramirez damages knee ligaments — 95 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Jhon Chacón: 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.” Zulia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Renzo Zambrano takes the afternoon — 8.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Renzo Zambrano provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A one-man rearguard from Moisés Gallo
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ronald Acuña 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Zulia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match23 Jan 2027
At last: Zulia win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Deportivo Tachira. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
In brief
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The dugout
Jesús Rengel gets it from the manager
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
Ronald Acuña runs at them all day
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Luis Vargas 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.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Mineros de Guayana will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Carlos Barreto has pre-agreed a move to Zulia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Kevin Díaz 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
Luis Vargas 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Francisco Rondon is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Juan Murillo 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Carlos Ramirez 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cristian Casseres is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Zulia know it, and so does everybody who watches him.