Marked for Sergio Murillo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
There were 7 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Alianza Petrolera may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Alianza Petrolera training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Salazar 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Andrés Salazar 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan David Rueda. 1‑0 against Depor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Erik Vásquez, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Victor Quintero kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Market15 Feb 2027
No place for Luis Cuesta in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luis Cuesta has his answer from Alianza Petrolera; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Antony Otero asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the Alianza Petrolera board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match23 Jan 2027
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jerson Malagón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Kevin Salazar 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 dugout25 Jan 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 7.38 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Alianza Petrolera had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Victor Quintero chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Camilo Ordóñez damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Alianza Petrolera is running low.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Alianza Petrolera have done the hard part with Independiente Medellin, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Juan David Rueda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Alianza Petrolera have gone to Llaneros with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Salazar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
13 new faces, and Alianza Petrolera 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Alianza Petrolera board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Antony Otero 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Luis Cuesta in trouble away from the ground
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Kevin Salazar 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Arturo, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Training ground row involving Luis Cuesta
Tempers went at Alianza Petrolera this week. Nothing a hard session and a quiet word cannot repair, though the story got out all the same.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan David Rueda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout2 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 Jonathan Segura has written the date down.