From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stifensón Pérez 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.
Squad2 Nov 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Salomon Savarino has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zulia will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Martinez 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
David Ramirez is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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
Tempers go at Zulia
Stifensón Pérez 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Sergio Martinez 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
Steady
Squad12 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Stifensón Pérez 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
22 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Stifensón Pérez 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Sergio Martinez 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Miguel Arango commits to Zulia for another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Martinez 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.
Squad28 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. David Ramirez is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Diego Soteldo 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stifensón Pérez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Martinez 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 51 days on the sidelines for Richard Martinez, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Stifensón Pérez 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sergio Martinez 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francisco Ramirez and Zulia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Miguel Gonzalez 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Stifensón Pérez 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.
Squad31 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Diego Soteldo 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sergio Martinez 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
Zulia out of the cup
Estudiantes de Merida ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Cristian Machis takes the afternoon — 8.31
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Cristian Machis provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 26 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A chastening introduction for Darwin Cordova — 5.80
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.80 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
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 Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Three points for Zulia, 2‑1 the final word against Metropolitanos in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Martinez 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Cristian Machis has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Soteldo and Zulia agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Zulia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Martinez 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 terraces10 Aug 2026
Zulia supporters have found a favourite in David Ramirez
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. David Ramirez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.32 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Market3 Aug 2026
Basaksehir come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Zulia did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zulia
Diego Soteldo 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Zulia come up short against Zamora
Zamora left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sergio Martinez 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Sergio Martinez
“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 ratings3 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miguel Castillo and Zulia agree another 2 years.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
5 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.