“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Once Caldas can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Once Caldas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
A 3-3 win over Deportivo Pasto, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Mateo Zuleta has let it be known that he does not like the way Once Caldas are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Once Caldas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The shirt still fits. Felipe Rios is back at Once Caldas, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Sebastian Palacios is back at Once Caldas, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Once Caldas can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Once Caldas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee is $5.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Tijuana drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Once Caldas, and both men came out saying it was fine.