Marked for Daniel González
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market9 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad Catolica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Agustín García Basso 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Alfred Canales has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Universidad Catolica 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Universidad Catolica lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Universidad Catolica would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Emilio Zelaya has written the date down.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 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 The request is on a desk at Universidad Catolica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Waller was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Juan Díaz 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Universidad Catolica, another week without a signature from Facundo Waller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Christian Jensen has his answer from Universidad Catolica; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universidad Catolica can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Universidad Catolica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Waller 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Emilio Zelaya 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Juan Díaz gets picked when it counts
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 Juan Díaz is on it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ignacio Pérez is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market19 Oct 2026
Juan Díaz has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Universidad Catolica can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Universidad Catolica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel González 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Juan Díaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
12 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Francisco Rossel, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 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 Universidad Catolica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Sep 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Universidad Catolica can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Branco Ampuero 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Clemente Montes, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Gary Medel is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
When it matters, Juan Díaz plays
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.
Market28 Sep 2026
The Justo Giani story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Justo Giani signs something — a contract at Universidad Catolica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes Emilio Zelaya a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Universidad Catolica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 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 Universidad Catolica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
20 days out for Bastián Gómez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Universidad Catolica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Juan Díaz 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Fernando Zampedri
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Fernando Zampedri has come out of that comparison in the side, and Universidad Catolica have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Bernardo Cerezo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Universidad Catolica 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.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Colo-Colo next, and one man in the Universidad Catolica dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Out, 1‑2 to Antofagasta, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Branco Ampuero 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Juan Díaz wants continental football; whether Universidad Catolica can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emilio Zelaya, and the manager let it.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Martín Gómez beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Gary Valdes after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad10 Aug 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
At 38 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.61, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market10 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Universidad Catolica did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
Diego Valencia has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universidad Catolica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Branco Ampuero 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Universidad Catolica and Iquique in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Market10 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.