Marked for Nicolás Benedetti
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportivo Cali can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuel Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan Sebastián Ramírez 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Marked 8.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Joan Gómez 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Juan Ospina could afford to be generous.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuel Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Deportivo Cali told Tobías Ramírez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Benedetti, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Juan Ospina was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Deportivo Cali dressing room was either.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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 Fernando Álvarez is on it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tobías Ramírez is the weekend's best young player
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Match13 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against America de Cali? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aguilas Doradas in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportivo Cali can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Feb 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Deportivo Cali can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emanuel Reynoso 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Tití Rodríguez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Deportivo Cali.
Market1 Feb 2027
Fabián Viáfara is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Deportivo Cali has been clear about where Fabián Viáfara stands, which is more than many ever get.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Deportivo Cali will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Néider Ospina slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Néider Ospina is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Jan 2027
0‑3 against Deportes Quindio, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Cali may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market25 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportivo Cali is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match23 Jan 2027
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Deportivo Cali are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Deportivo Cali
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Market25 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sergio Vargas 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Leonardo Ospina 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
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Duvan Gomez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Cali will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Dec 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 Deportivo Cali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Everything agreed with River Plate, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emanuel Reynoso 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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Godoy Cruz have kept their man, and Deportivo Cali go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market7 Dec 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” José Caldera has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Deportivo Cali.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nicolás Benedetti has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Boca Juniors have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Club America have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Cali will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Nov 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Johan Martínez wants continental football; whether Deportivo Cali can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuel Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabián Viáfara, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Yeison Tolosa 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 Yeison Tolosa is on it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Cali will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Sebastián Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Cali will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market16 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 Deportivo Cali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuel Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Johan Martínez knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Deportivo Cali, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Fernando Álvarez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Deportivo Cali 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Deportivo Cali. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Cali will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Johan Martínez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Eduard Bello joins up with his country. Deportivo Cali lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Cali will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Cali may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Emanuel Reynoso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of José Caldera
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Juan Ospina left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Cali will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Cali may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuel Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match24 Oct 2026
Late, late show earns Deportivo Cali a point
Minute 91, against Jaguares, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Avilés Hurtado
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Something was said to Léyser Chaverra and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Match24 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Jaguares leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑3 to Junior, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emanuel Reynoso 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pedro Gallese, and the manager let it.
Market19 Oct 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Deportivo Cali dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Juan José Montoya, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Juan Ospina to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Cali will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Cali may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Johan Martínez commits to Deportivo Cali for another 4 years.
The dugout12 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
15 new faces, and Deportivo Cali are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Sebastián Ramírez 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Cali will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuel Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Johan Martínez
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Cortulua, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Ronaldo Pájaro was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Gustavo Cuéllar is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Juan Ospina: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Cali will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Independiente Medellin spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
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 Deportivo Cali can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Match26 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Tití Rodríguez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Deportivo Cali.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Néider Ospina 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Tití Rodríguez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Sep 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Avilés Hurtado 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Gustavo Cuéllar
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Juan Ospina left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Deportivo Cali, and it is a cruel one.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Ronaldo Pájaro 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match12 Sep 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Deportivo Cali scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Cristian Alomía has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mateo Puerta commits to Deportivo Cali for another 4 years.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
At 23 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Alexis Manyoma breaks a bone — 121 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuel Reynoso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
44 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 Sep 2026
15 new faces, and Deportivo Cali are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Léyser Chaverra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
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.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Juan José Tello’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Deportivo Cali needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout7 Sep 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 Alejandro Rodríguez has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Juan Sebastián Ramírez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Emanuel Reynoso 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 2‑0 win over Patriotas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad17 Aug 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Juan Ospina: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“127 caps was 127 more than the boy who started ever expected.” At 36 he has stepped away from the national side and has not stepped away from Deportivo Cali.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Deportivo Cali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emanuel Reynoso 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Cali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Pedro Gallese
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Juan Ospina left the room before anybody could ask which.