The Real Cartagena Sentinel
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Jean Galindo takes the afternoon — 8.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jean Galindo provided it, and the 8.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Real Cartagena
Juan David Rodríguez 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Graduation day at Real Cartagena
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
The crowd has taken to Jean Galindo
At 20 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
One of our own: Juan Sanchez joins the Real Cartagena first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Juan Sanchez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market25 Jan 2027
Real Cartagena promote Rafael Murillo from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rafael 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Jorge Uribe steps up from the Real Cartagena academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jorge Uribe 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
One of our own: Santiago Arias joins the Real Cartagena first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Santiago Arias is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Didier Pino falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
- Squad The manager makes an example of Álvaro Meléndez
- Match Real Cartagena and Independiente Medellin take a point apiece
- Squad Aldo Montes knocks on the manager's door