The candidates who are rumored to replace Pablo Peirano after the shakeup in Santa Fe

The elimination from the Copa Libertadores at the hands of Deportes Iquique, from Chile, was the final point for the Uruguayan Pablo Peirano as coach of Independiente Santa Fe.

The Bogota club announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with Peirano and his coaching staff to terminate the contract.

The Uruguayan, who was Gerardo Pelusso's technical assistant in the historic title at the 2015 Copa Sudamericana, leaves Santa Fe after managing 70 games, with a record of 29 wins, 20 draws and 21 losses, for a performance of 51 percent.

Who could be the new Santa Fe coach? In the statement announcing Peirano's departure, the club says that the board of directors "is already studying and analyzing the profile of the new technical director, who must meet the characteristics and DNA of the club."

Press reports have already mentioned some names . An old dream of Santa Fe president Eduardo Méndez is Alberto Gamero. The Samario was ready to take over in 2019, when he was managing Tolima.

Méndez appointed Harold Rivera, whom he knew from his time as a leader of Unión Magdalena, as his manager while Gamero was free.

But Rivera's campaign was good at the beginning, so much so that he kept the team away from relegation, got it into the quadrangulars that year and was a finalist the following year.

During that period, Gamero signed with Millonarios, from which he left in December 2024, with a League title, a Cup title and a Super League. With that recent past, he would not seem to fit into the 'Cardenal DNA' due to his closeness to the blues, but...

Another name that has been heard a lot in recent days is Rafael Dudamel, who was a Santa Fe player between 1995 and 1997, where he was a key piece in reaching the final of the Conmebol Cup in 1996.

However, Javier Hernández Bonnet, who shares the microphone with Dudamel on Gol Caracol broadcasts, revealed that he spoke with the Venezuelan and the latter denied contacts.

The name of Arturo Reyes, who has been free since his most recent stint with Junior ended in September of last year, has also been mentioned in the last few hours.

The coach who won the 2023-II League has experience in top-level teams: he had a good campaign with Academia, in the B division, and a very bad one with Patriotas, where he did not win a single game.

Another option is Hernán Torres, who has already been a league champion with Millonarios and Tolima and who returned América to the A division in 2016. His last experience in Colombian football was not good: he had a very poor campaign with Deportivo Cali, where he only lasted three months and nine games.

For the time being, Francisco López, who had just been named sports director, and Róbinson Zapata, the goalkeeper who won the 2015 Sudamericana, were in charge of the team, while their resumes are being studied.