Independiente Medellin U18

Colombian Liga BetPlay U18
31 Aug 2026
Monday
Process
4 Edition

The Independiente Medellin Herald

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Salvador Ichazo keeps Independiente Medellin in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Yony González wants European nights

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Didier Moreno

“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.

Match

Independiente Medellin come up short against Deportivo Pasto

Deportivo Pasto left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at Independiente Medellin training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Larrosa 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 dugout

Brian Lopez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Brian Lopez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad

The weekend belonged to Diego Herazo

Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.

The dugout

Didier Moreno left out for tactical reasons at Independiente Medellin

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

Squad

Halam Loboa 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.

In brief

Back issues
3 Edition

The Independiente Medellin Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Diego Herazo leads the rout of Deportivo Pereira

6‑2, and Diego Herazo took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Independiente Medellin tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Match

Independiente Medellin out of the cup

Bogota ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Squad

Diego Herazo takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Halam Loboa, 20, steals the show — 8.26

Marked 8.26 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Match

8 goals as Independiente Medellin and Deportivo Pereira go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Independiente Medellin and Deportivo Pereira, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Diego Herazo at his very best

Marked 9.45. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Independiente Medellin.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to John Edwin Montaño

At 19 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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Hayen Palacios at his very best

Marked 8.34. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Independiente Medellin.

Player ratings

Ever Valencia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

2 Edition

The Independiente Medellin Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Hayen Palacios was unplayable

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.

Squad

Halam Loboa stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Halam Loboa and Independiente Medellin agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A row about effort at Independiente Medellin

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enzo Larrosa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Independiente Medellin

Luis Escorcia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Yony González

A mark of 7.85, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

12 new faces, and Independiente Medellin 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.

Match

Honours even between Independiente Medellin and Patriotas

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Market

Still no ink between Independiente Medellin and Enzo Larrosa

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Independiente Medellin, another week without a signature from Enzo Larrosa.

The dugout

Brian Lopez on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Brian Lopez after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

In brief

1 Edition

The Independiente Medellin Herald

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Yony González stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Yony González and Independiente Medellin agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Baldomero Perlaza out for 50 days

The medical room confirms 50 days on the sidelines for Baldomero Perlaza, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Player ratings

Juan José Córdoba runs at them all day

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Independiente Medellin

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Baldomero Perlaza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Words exchanged at Independiente Medellin

Luis Escorcia 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.

Match

Independiente Medellin caught on 91 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Aguilas Doradas scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

Market

The clock runs on Joaquín Varela's contract

49 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.

The dugout

Halam Loboa is still paying for one afternoon at Independiente Medellin

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

Match

Independiente Medellin share the spoils with Aguilas Doradas

A 1‑1 draw with Aguilas Doradas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief