Santa Fe U20

14 Jan 2027
Thursday
Process
24 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mateo Puerta breaks a bone — 101 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Jeison Angulo puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work
  • Squad Cliques at Santa Fe
Back issues
23 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Emanuel Olivera puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Real improvement from Daniel Ayala at Santa Fe

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Daniel Ayala is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

In brief

22 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Helibelton Palacios puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Daniel Torres 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.

Market

Santa Fe may not be able to give Cristian Iguarán what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Cristian Iguarán wants continental football; whether Santa Fe can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

In brief

21 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Iván Scarpeta 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Helibelton Palacios

“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.

In brief

20 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Santa Fe pay Union Magdalena $2.8M for a proper upgrade

Union Magdalena did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $2.8M for Cristian Iguarán, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.

Market

Tigres come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Santa Fe did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Éwil Murillo moves on

Atletico Bucaramanga pay $1.2M, 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Adrián Mosquera at Santa Fe

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adrián Mosquera is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A move Yuri Sena would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yuri Sena is living that version at Santa Fe, and it tends to show in the first month.

In brief

19 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Jhojan Torres keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Santa Fe may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Market

Víctor Moreno 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.

Squad

Víctor Moreno 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Víctor Moreno'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.

Market

No place for Jeison Angulo in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jeison Angulo has his answer from Santa Fe; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

18 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Weibmar Asprilla says Santa Fe went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Market

Santa Fe may not be able to give Iván Scarpeta what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Iván Scarpeta wants continental football; whether Santa Fe can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

In brief

  • Boardroom 173% of the income goes out in wages at Santa Fe
  • Squad Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work
  • Squad No hiding place for Víctor Moreno
17 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Éwil Murillo 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Helibelton Palacios

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Helibelton Palacios, and the manager let it.

In brief

16 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Squad

When it matters, Jhojan Torres plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

15 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Éwil Murillo puts it in writing

“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 Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Yílmar Velásquez 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.

In brief

14 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Boardroom

173% of the income goes out in wages at Santa Fe

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Squad

Éwil Murillo 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.

In brief

13 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Víctor Moreno keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Santa Fe may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Squad

Emanuel Olivera pulls a muscle — 15 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

In brief

12 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Squad

Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yílmar Velásquez 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.

Squad

Santa Fe keep their word to Nahuel Bustos

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

In brief

11 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Santa Fe's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Santa Fe has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Éwil Murillo 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 Santa Fe can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Éwil Murillo: 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.” Santa Fe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo

There were 6 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.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Patriotas take the points off Santa Fe

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

10 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Whatever happens, Santa Fe do not lose

13 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Match

The wait goes on for Santa Fe

8 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Fagúndez

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 301% of everything Santa Fe earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

No hiding place for Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo, and the manager let it.

Market

Santa Fe may not be able to give Víctor Moreno what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Víctor Moreno wants continental football; whether Santa Fe can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Match

The run at home goes on for Santa Fe

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

In brief

9 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Whatever happens, Santa Fe do not lose

12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Match

No end in sight to Santa Fe's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Santa Fe has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Iván Scarpeta 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Víctor Moreno at his very best

Marked 9.31. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Santa Fe.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Fagúndez

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Nahuel Bustos 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.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Iván Scarpeta'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.

Match

Santa Fe share the spoils with America de Cali

A 1‑1 draw with America de Cali leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

8 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Still nobody has beaten Santa Fe

The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

6 matches without a win for Santa Fe

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Santa Fe are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Omar Fernández yet — 8.03

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Player ratings

Nahuel Bustos runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Iván Scarpeta at his very best

Marked 8.71. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Santa Fe.

In brief

7 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Still nobody has beaten Santa Fe

The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

No end in sight to Santa Fe's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Santa Fe has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Víctor Moreno

Marked 8.82 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Emanuel Olivera 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.

Player ratings

Maximiliano Lovera runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Juan Sebastián Quintero'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.

Squad

Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

Match

Víctor Moreno rescues a point for Santa Fe

It needed Víctor Moreno to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Cortulua, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

6 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

9 unbeaten for Santa Fe

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Santa Fe did not have in the autumn.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Omar Fernández yet — 7.87

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Match

4 matches without a win for Santa Fe

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Santa Fe are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Boardroom

362% of the income goes out in wages at Santa Fe

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Squad

No hiding place for Maximiliano Lovera

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maximiliano Lovera, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Iván Scarpeta was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.60. 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.

Squad

Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yílmar Velásquez 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Yílmar Velásquez

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

5 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Yéicar Perlaza

Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Santa Fe out of the cup

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

Squad

Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Match

8 unbeaten for Santa Fe

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Santa Fe did not have in the autumn.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Éwil Murillo

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nahuel Bustos

Marked 8.96 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo

“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 ratings

Mateo Puerta misses from twelve yards

It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.

In brief

4 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nothing got past Daniel Torres

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 36 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Match

Cup progress for Santa Fe

A 1‑0 win over Alianza Petrolera, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Player ratings

Nothing got past Yílmar Velásquez

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Nahuel Bustos 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Víctor Moreno

Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Santa Fe

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Lovera 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.

Player ratings

Kilian Toscano shuts the door

Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

No hiding place for Emanuel Olivera

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emanuel Olivera, and the manager let it.

In brief

3 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Cup progress for Santa Fe

A 2‑1 win over Real Santander, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Player ratings

Nothing got past Yílmar Velásquez

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Iván Scarpeta

Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Yílmar Velásquez 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jáder Obrian

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

2 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo

There were 8 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 ratings

Daniel Torres was immovable

30 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Player ratings

Yílmar Velásquez shuts the door

Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Juan Sebastián Quintero

25 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

Maximiliano Lovera 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 Santa Fe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Iván Scarpeta 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.

Squad

Helibelton Palacios stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Helibelton Palacios and Santa Fe agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nahuel Bustos

“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.

Market

Nobody at Santa Fe has picked up the phone to Christian Mafla

24 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

In brief

1 Edition

The Santa Fe Herald

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Alexis Zapata

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Daniel Torres signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Torres commits to Santa Fe for another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Santa Fe

Daniel Torres 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.

Squad

Helibelton Palacios pulls a muscle — 14 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Market

Santa Fe may not be able to give Víctor Moreno what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Víctor Moreno wants continental football; whether Santa Fe can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximiliano Lovera 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.

In brief