The Estudiantes de Merida Gazette
Squad25 Jan 2027
Juan Carlos Azócar damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Cristopher Rodríguez keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Estudiantes de Merida may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
No sign of nerves from Ángel Flores at 21 — 7.78
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ángel Flores did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Juan Carlos Azócar 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 Estudiantes de Merida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Graduation day at Estudiantes de Merida
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Cristhián Rivas 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fernando Gonzalez steps up from the Estudiantes de Merida academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fernando Gonzalez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market25 Jan 2027
Estudiantes de Merida promote Miguel Ramirez from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Miguel 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
One of our own: Junior Rincon joins the Estudiantes de Merida first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Junior Rincon is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
- Market One of our own: Salomon Herrera joins the Estudiantes de Merida first team
- Match Ángel Flores answers Deportivo La Guaira immediately
- Loan watch Ander Izarra wants to come home