From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Joaquín Pereyra
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Iquique lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Iquique
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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Franco Ledesma and Iquique agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 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 Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Valenzuela, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match6 Mar 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Union La Calera came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Iquique lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Mar 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Age has not caught Álvaro Ramos yet — 7.84
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match27 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Iquique's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Iquique has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Iquique
Álvaro Ramos 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Iquique training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Venezia 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
O'Higgins left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 Mar 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Iquique
Agustín Venezia 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Iquique training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simón Contreras 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Leandro Cañete dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout22 Feb 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match20 Feb 2027
Point won or two lost for Iquique?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Universidad de Chile? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead22 Feb 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Simón Contreras’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Iquique needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Iquique
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
He is 23 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 ratings15 Feb 2027
Agustín Venezia was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad15 Feb 2027
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and Iquique 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 dugout15 Feb 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Vicente Concha
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Iquique lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Iquique
Álvaro Ramos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Kevin Medel makes the wrong kind of headline
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simón Contreras and Iquique agree another 4 years.
The dugout8 Feb 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
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 Leandro Cañete has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Iquique lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Agustín Venezia 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
An unwelcome headline for Kevin Medel
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón Contreras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Iquique, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market1 Feb 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Iquique know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Iquique lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Iquique may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Iquique
Agustín Venezia 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Zacarías López has his answer from Iquique; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Leandro Cañete keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Iquique say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Iquique. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Iquique lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Álvaro Ramos 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 Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Iquique training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Venezia 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 dugout18 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Iquique are still strangers to each other
7 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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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 Leandro Cañete has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Mlada Boleslav is saying, and nobody at Iquique is enjoying the guessing.
Squad11 Jan 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 Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vicente Concha and Iquique agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Simón Contreras 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Iquique have done the hard part with Temperley, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Agustín Venezia 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Mlada Boleslav have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Daniel Vicencio has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Market4 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Iquique know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Iquique. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market4 Jan 2027
Iquique have let the market know Daniel Vicencio can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
The deal with Guarani is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Diego Orellana 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Pablo Palacio 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 targets28 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Iquique go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Arturo Pulgar commits to Iquique for another 3 years.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vicente Concha, and the manager let it.
Market28 Dec 2026
The name of Leandro Cañete keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Iquique say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout28 Dec 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 Leandro Cañete has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 101 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Iquique say no — this time
The offer from Huachipato for Franco Ledesma 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Iquique
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Antofagasta wanted more than $330.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Iquique asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Castillo, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
River Plate have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Too much change too quickly at Iquique
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Carvajal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Nicolás Castillo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Iquique have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
Supporters turn on the $630.0K sale of Brayan Garrido
He is going to Santiago Wanderers, the club has $630.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Iquique have gone to Antofagasta 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.
Squad14 Dec 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 Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
$25.0K on the table at Union Espanola. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market14 Dec 2026
Santiago Wanderers pay $630.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
$250.0K was the most the club would pay and Huachipato were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets14 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Iquique lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
The deal with San Luis is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
An offer of $250.0K for Maicol León
Iquique have gone to Huachipato 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Iquique
Leandro Cañete and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Palacio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Dec 2026
A conversation is coming this week. Iquique will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Vicencio and Iquique agree another 2 years.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Experience through the door at Iquique
Daniel Vicencio arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Iquique lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Zacarías López for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Iquique will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Agustín Venezia 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Palacio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Leandro Cañete keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Iquique say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
132 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Iquique lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad23 Nov 2026
71 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Iquique
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón Contreras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout23 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 Leandro Cañete has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
139 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Iquique lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Franco Ledesma 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Pablo Palacio 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 dugout16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kevin Medel and Iquique agree another 3 years.
Market16 Nov 2026
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Kevin Medel arrives at Iquique with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 146 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Agustín Venezia 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marcelo Diaz 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leandro Cañete, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Garrido was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Iquique know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 154 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Vicente Concha: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Iquique have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Agustín Venezia 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Valenzuela, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón Contreras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market2 Nov 2026
The name of Leandro Cañete keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Iquique say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Leandro Cañete 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Juan José Contreras has, at Iquique, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Pablo Palacio 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Brayan Garrido
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan José Contreras and Iquique agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Iquique may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 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 Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Diego Rojas is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Iquique training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Palacio 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Zacarías López
“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 dugout19 Oct 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 César Valenzuela has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Agustín Venezia 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
One of our own: Ivan Suazo joins the Iquique first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ivan Suazo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Simón Contreras 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Iquique know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dylan Arias: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Iquique will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 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 Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Iquique training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Palacio 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Iquique 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
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Iquique
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Leandro Cañete
“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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 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 Iquique this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón Contreras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 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 Zacarías López has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Iquique
Leandro Cañete and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Palacio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rodrigo Aravena has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Castillo, and the manager let it.
Market14 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Iquique know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout14 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for César González
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Iquique lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Agustín Venezia 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Palacio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Brayan Garrido
“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 Sep 2026
Iquique are still strangers to each other
14 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Leandro Cañete dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Benjamin Davila after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Audax Italiano will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
César González damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.07, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Iquique
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
At 23 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
At last: Iquique win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against San Marcos de Arica. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over San Marcos de Arica, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Iquique
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simón Contreras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Brayan Garrido is still being punished for one mistake
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The dugout
No place in the plan for Isaac Díaz
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Iquique lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Iquique's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Iquique has to find a result from somewhere.
Match22 Aug 2026
Iquique cannot find the net
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Leandro Cañete 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Pablo Palacio 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 dugout24 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.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Guillermo Bravo and Iquique agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Iquique lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Iquique out
Out, 0‑2 to Audax Italiano, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Iquique
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Iquique are no longer polite ones.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a goal for Iquique
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Agustín Venezia 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Cobresal left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Zacarías López
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Iquique
A 0‑3 beating by San Luis was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Iquique
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom10 Aug 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eduardo Maripan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Arturo Pulgar 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
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eduardo Jara 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. Felipe Sierralta is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Iquique dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Iquique
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Squad
15 new faces, and Iquique are still learning each other
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 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 Iquique, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Venezia commits to Iquique for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Iquique
Diego Orellana 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Pablo Palacio 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Universidad Catolica, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Aug 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market3 Aug 2026
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 dugout3 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Benjamin Davila after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.