From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Valledupar people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market24 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 The request is on a desk at Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Richard Hurtado 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Valledupar out
Out, 0‑3 to Atletico Nacional, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
0-3. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Squad17 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 Valledupar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Javier Falcao
“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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Valledupar 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fabian Caicedo after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The formation has left David Valencia behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Valledupar will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Pablo Gonzalez is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Danilo Braga and Valledupar agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Richard Hurtado 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 dugout10 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edwin Rodriguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The formation has left Roger Torres behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Valledupar will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Danilo Braga knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danilo Braga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Richard Hurtado wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Valledupar hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Richard Hurtado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Danilo Braga knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danilo Braga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Valledupar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rafael Diaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The formation has left Javier Calle behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Valledupar will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market3 Aug 2026
Experience through the door at Valledupar
José Ramírez Agudelo arrives at 36 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.