Marked for Nicolás Castillo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Palacio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonzalo Mall, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Anthony Henriquez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zacarías López is on it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Sep 2026
Iquique win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Audax Italiano will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Agustín Venezia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Palacio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Agustín Venezia 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Isaac Díaz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Iquique.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Franco Ledesma slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Franco Ledesma is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Iquique are still strangers to each other
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 7.39 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Iquique had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
“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 Iquique, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Venezia commits to Iquique for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Diego Orellana and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Pablo Palacio 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Universidad Catolica left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zacarías López, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.