Marked for César Urpín
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Jul 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 Zamora can pretend not to have heard.
Market12 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Deportivo La Guaira waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zamora is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market12 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamora they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Casimiro Peña and Zamora agree another 3 years.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Zamora
Edwuin Pernía 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Anthonys Matos 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
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.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Antony Trujillo ran the middle of the pitch — 6.54
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.54, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
In brief
-
The dugout
No hiding place for César Urpín
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Transfer targets
A loan move for Héctor Manrique is in the works
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Jun 2027
0‑3 to Deportivo Tachira, 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.
Market28 Jun 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match26 Jun 2027
7 matches without a win for Zamora
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Zamora are no longer polite ones.
Market28 Jun 2027
Ítalo Sulbarán has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamora they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Zamora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anthonys Matos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo La Guaira have kept their man, and Zamora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Zamora have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Nobody left the Zamora dressing room in a hurry
-
The dugout
Miguel Otero answers for it
-
Transfer targets
A loan move for Agustín Pérez is in the works
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Deportivo La Guaira waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zamora is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market7 Jun 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market7 Jun 2027
Zamora say no — this time
The offer from Zalgiris for Alexander Rondón Oliveros was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match5 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Zamora's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zamora has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Beycker Velásquez and Zamora agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anthonys Matos 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 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Los Angeles Football Club have kept their man, and Zamora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 May 2027
Zamora throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Ureña the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Zamora will enjoy reviewing.
Market31 May 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 Zamora can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Zamora
Edwuin Pernía and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Zamora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anthonys Matos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2027
César Urpín 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zamora told Sergio Sulbarán something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Gabriel Benítez's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Match29 May 2027
Zamora share the spoils with Ureña
A 2‑2 draw with Ureña leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 May 2027
Gabriel Benítez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 May 2027
Arlés Flores hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamora can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zamora may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings3 May 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.86 for the rest of it.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Zamora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anthonys Matos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio Sulbarán
“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 dugout3 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Miguel Otero after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zamora may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market29 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamora is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Zamora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anthonys Matos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Zamora
Stiven Valencia 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Urpín, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
A promise honoured at Zamora
Something was said to Sergio Sulbarán and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout29 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 Roberth Patiño is on it.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Titanes Guanare next, and one man in the Zamora dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market29 Mar 2027
Zamora have let the market know Roberth Patiño can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
22 days out for Gabriel Benítez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zamora will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Zamora
Edwuin Pernía 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Zamora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anthonys Matos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
21 new faces, and Zamora 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 dugout12 Oct 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Armando Rivas has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zamora 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamora is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Zamora
Gabriel Benítez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Stiven Valencia 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Carlos Lujano slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Carlos Lujano is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
César Urpín moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Zamora than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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.
The dugout7 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 Roberth Patiño is on it.
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 Anthony Uribe has written the date down.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Antony Trujillo 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.