Marked for Adrián Parra
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Anderson Angulo 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The shirt still fits. Luis Ospina is back at Deportes Tolima, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market25 Jan 2027
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.
Market25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jeinner Fuentes. 2‑0 against Union Magdalena, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 8.60 — 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.48, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 Oct 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Deportes Tolima are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 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 Deportes Tolima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Edwar López gets it from the manager
“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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Deportivo Pasto left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 18 years old, Erik Álvarez became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A mark of 5.80 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 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 Deportes Tolima can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match3 Oct 2026
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
He is 21, he is averaging 7.15, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Anderson Angulo 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
316% of the income goes out in wages at Deportes Tolima
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.85 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Sandoval, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Deportes Tolima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He is 21, he is averaging 7.11, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bryan Rovira in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportes Tolima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
302% of the income goes out in wages at Deportes Tolima
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.08 — 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Sandoval, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Deportes Tolima have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 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 Deportes Tolima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Neto Volpi
There were 6 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 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 Deportes Tolima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.99 — 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Neto Volpi
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The spotlight tightens on Neto Volpi
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Anderson Angulo 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Bryan Rovira
“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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.28 — 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The shirt belongs to Bryan Rovira now
At 29 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Deportes Tolima have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Neto Volpi commits to Deportes Tolima for another 2 years.
Squad10 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 Deportes Tolima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.87, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Deportes Tolima, another week without a signature from Jeinner Fuentes.
Squad10 Aug 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Envigado leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Neto Volpi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Neto Volpi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market3 Aug 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Anderson Angulo and Deportes Tolima agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Anderson Angulo 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.47 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 8.95 — 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Neto Volpi, and the manager let it.