From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Caracas march on in the cup
Trujillanos are out and Caracas go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from José Rondón at 21 — 7.63
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. José Rondón did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Caracas
Luis Del Pino Mago and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market24 Aug 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 Caracas can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The terraces24 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Both jobs done by Luis Maestre — 6.61
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.61, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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.” Junior Ramirez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Sergio Román 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 Sergio Román is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Caracas
Luis Del Pino Mago 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Kevin Salazar has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Caracas know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Caracas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Miguel Rondon 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Victor Gonzalez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. David Castillo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Oscar Rondon is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eduardo Fereira and Caracas agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Caracas say no — this time
The offer from Puebla for Alejandro Villarreal 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Del Pino Mago and Caracas agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Luis Del Pino Mago 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Caracas are still strangers to each other
10 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.
Market3 Aug 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.