Marcelo Eggel

Central Midfielder - Maipú
2 Nov 2028
Thursday
Process

Marked for Marcelo Eggel

117 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

23 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Joaquín Bassani has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Maipú they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

A falling-out at Maipú

Diego Gaitán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

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Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillermo Rivas 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.

Market

Guillermo Rivas linked with a move away

The name of Guillermo Rivas keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Maipú say nothing, which says plenty.

The terraces

The Nicolás Fernández rumours reach the terraces

What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Maipú would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.

In brief

Back issues
115 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

9 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Maipú

Diego Gaitán 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 Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillermo Rivas 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Fabián Chazarreta

“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.

Squad

Rafael Osorio signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rafael Osorio and Maipú agree another 1 years.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Nicolás Garnica

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Maipú told Nicolás Garnica something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout

Lucas Más 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 Lucas Más trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

113 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

25 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Full time on the season at Maipú

Position 4 on 58 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Diego Gaitán

29 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

A brace, and Diego Gaitán takes the afternoon — 8.45

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Diego Gaitán provided it, and the 8.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Only the photograph left for Joaquín Bassani

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joaquín Bassani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Guillermo Rivas 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 Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

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Match

Maipú see off Quilmes

Three points for Maipú, 3‑1 the final word against Quilmes in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Julián Vera at his very best

Marked 8.20. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Maipú.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Marcelo Eggel

Marked 8.13 — 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.

In brief

  • The dugout A promise honoured at Maipú
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Squad The weekend belonged to Julián Vera
112 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Julián Vera leads the rout of Los Andes

4‑0, and Julián Vera took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Maipú tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

Diego Gaitán is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.24 with 27 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Only the photograph left for Lucas Más

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Más will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.

The dugout

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Match

The drought breaks for Maipú

8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Los Andes were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad

A falling-out at Maipú

Matías Viguet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Nicolás Garnica stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Garnica and Maipú agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillermo Rivas 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 terraces

One of their own: Diego Gaitán

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.

In brief

111 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

11 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Maipú's wait for a win

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

Market

Juan Cruz Arno 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Maipú

Matías Viguet 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

Joaquín Bassani was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 21. 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.

Match

Maipú cannot find the net

3 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Maipú

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillermo Rivas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

86% of the income goes out in wages at Maipú

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.

The dugout

Carlos Alberto Benítez on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Carlos Alberto Benítez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Match

Point won or two lost for Maipú?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against San Miguel? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief

110 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

4 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Luciano Ortega out for 20 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maipú will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

The wait goes on for Maipú

7 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.

Squad

Guillermo Rivas stands alone

6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Maipú

Diego Gaitán 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.

Match

Estudiantes take the points off Maipú

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Carlos Alberto Benítez left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Maipú keep their word to Fabián Chazarreta

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.

Squad

Rafael Osorio slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rafael Osorio is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

Market

The Nicolás Fernández question follows Maipú around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nicolás Fernández’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

107 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

14 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Luciano Ortega out for 41 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maipú will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Diego Gaitán is carrying Maipú

24 goals and a season average of 7.24. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

No end in sight to Maipú's wait for a win

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

Squad

Tempers go at Maipú

Matías Viguet 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.

The dugout

Rafael Osorio 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Juan Cruz Arno

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Carlos Alberto Benítez on the draw

“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 dugout

Fabián Chazarreta asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Match

No goals between Maipú and Madryn

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Madryn will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

106 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Luciano Ortega breaks a bone — 48 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Maipú up to position 2

49 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Player ratings

Lautaro Vargas goes up and wins it — 7.67

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.67 for the rest of it.

Squad

Marcelo Eggel stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcelo Eggel and Maipú agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Maipú

Fabián Chazarreta 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.

Match

Gimnasia y Tiro take the points off Maipú

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillermo Rivas 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Guillermo Rivas

“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

The pass was always on for Luciano Ortega

Chances created: 12. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • Market Nobody at Maipú has picked up the phone to Rafael Osorio
  • Boardroom Wages eat 89% of everything Maipú earn
105 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Gustavo Ortiz 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Joaquín Bassani

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joaquín Bassani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A falling-out at Maipú

Matías Viguet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

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Squad

Guillermo Rivas 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 dugout

No hiding place for Fabián Chazarreta

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

Transfer targets

Federico Ramírez stays at Defensores as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Maipú will try again when the window opens; Defensores may not be selling by then.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Marcelo Eggel at his very best

Marked 8.25. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Maipú.

Match

Honours even between Maipú and Arsenal

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

92 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Aron Agüero asks to leave Maipú

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Maipú lose Fabián Chazarreta

51 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Matías Viguet 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 Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Franco Ali

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

Looking ahead

Maipú and Estudiantes meet at the summit

The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Marcelo Eggel at his very best

Marked 8.31. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Maipú.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Paulini 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.

Market

Nobody at Maipú has picked up the phone to Rafael Osorio

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

Match

Honours even between Maipú and Tristán Suárez

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

  • The dugout Aron Agüero asks for a word with the manager
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Franco Ali does not fit this one
91 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The small margins put Maipú out

Out, 0‑1 to Platense, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Market

Luciano Arnijas asks to leave Maipú

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

A falling-out at Maipú

Aron Agüero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

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Squad

Matías Viguet 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.

Match

Maipú find a way past Alvarado

Alvarado made Maipú work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout

Rafael Osorio 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Marcelo Eggel

Marked 8.33 — 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.

Player ratings

Joaquín Bassani runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

90 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

17 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Still nobody has beaten Maipú

The unbeaten run reaches 13. 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

Maipú are top

21 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.

Market

Juan Cruz Arno asks to leave Maipú

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Guillermo Rivas stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Guillermo Rivas and Maipú agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Maipú

Matías Viguet 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.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafael Osorio 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 dugout

No hiding place for Guillermo Rivas

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

Player ratings

Marcelo Eggel in the eights

A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Juan Pablo Gobetto at his very best

Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Maipú.

In brief

88 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Still nobody has beaten Maipú

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.

Squad

Matías Viguet 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 Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Marcelo Eggel the difference as Maipú beat Arsenal

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marcelo Eggel. 4‑3 against Arsenal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Match

Marcelo Eggel among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Marcelo Eggel on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Maipú and Arsenal.

Squad

Guillermo Rivas 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Juan Cruz Arno

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Luciano Arnijas

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

Match

Maipú end the wait against Arsenal

It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Player ratings

Marcelo Eggel was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.34. 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.

In brief

85 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Juan Cruz Arno 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 Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Maipú

The unbeaten run reaches 8. 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

Tempers go at Maipú

Aron Agüero 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

A row about effort at Maipú

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Viguet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Rafael Osorio 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.

Player ratings

Matías Viguet was the difference for Maipú

Marked 7.28. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

Aron Agüero asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Carlos Alberto Benítez on the draw

“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.

Looking ahead

Maipú take on the side everybody is chasing

Almagro arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.

In brief

84 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

6 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Diego Gaitán 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.

Match

7 unbeaten for Maipú

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Maipú did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Matías Viguet 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 Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Andrés Ruiz stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrés Ruiz and Maipú agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A row about effort at Maipú

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rafael Osorio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Franco Ali

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

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Maipú had all but put away. Patronato will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Market

Nobody at Maipú has picked up the phone to Rafael Osorio

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

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Santiago Paulini

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Santiago Paulini has come out of that comparison in the side, and Maipú have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

79 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Diego Gaitán 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 Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Maipú

Aron Agüero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Matías Viguet 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

78 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Santiago Paulini 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 Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at Maipú

Matías Viguet 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.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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

77 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Juan Pablo Gobetto asks to leave Maipú

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

A falling-out at Maipú

Matías Viguet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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

Fabián Chazarreta is a square peg at Maipú

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Squad

Federico Godoy signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Federico Godoy and Maipú agree another 3 years.

Market

Fabián Chazarreta joins Maipú to strengthen the squad

Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Maipú have gone and got theirs early.

Market

Still no ink between Maipú and Víctor Barrera

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Maipú, another week without a signature from Víctor Barrera.

The dugout

Juan Pablo Gobetto asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Víctor Barrera talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maipú know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

67 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Juan Pablo Gobetto 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 Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Market

Only the photograph left for Mirko Bonfigli

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mirko Bonfigli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Maipú

Aron Agüero 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Maipú

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Viguet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Luciano Arnijas knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Maipú, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The shop window has Aron Agüero in it

Maipú have let the market know Aron Agüero can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

Market

Nicolás Fernández linked with a move away

The name of Nicolás Fernández keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Maipú say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

One-to-one work for Lucas Más

A programme of his own, away from the group, aimed at one thing the staff think is holding him back. Most improvement happens like this and none of it makes the paper.

In brief

61 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

No mercy from Maipú

Quilmes will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Maipú were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Match

Maipú finish in position 7

49 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Squad

A day Juan Cruz Giacone will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Market

Agustín Páez 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

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Squad

Juan Cruz Giacone is carrying Maipú

19 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Marcelo Eggel beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Alan Ortiz has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Maipú they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Boardroom

Alan Ortiz signs for Huracán while still at Maipú

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alan Ortiz has agreed terms with Huracán for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

In brief

60 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Juan Pablo De la Reta 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Mirko Bonfigli is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Maipú is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Maipú

Aron Agüero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Viguet 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.

Match

Maipú find a way past Los Andes

Los Andes made Maipú work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Marcelo Eggel was the difference for Maipú

Marked 7.82. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

Carlos Alberto Benítez: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.

Market

No place for Joaquín Nazar in the plan

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

The dugout

Luciano Arnijas 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 Luciano Arnijas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

56 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Juan Pablo De la Reta 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Maipú turn down Paralimni for Víctor Barrera

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Mirko Bonfigli has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Maipú they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Maipú

The unbeaten run reaches 7. 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

Tempers go at Maipú

Matías Viguet 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

Diego Gaitán 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.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Maipú had all but put away. Alvarado will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Player ratings

Marcelo Eggel was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout

No place for Luciano Arnijas on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Maipú pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

  • Match Honours even between Maipú and Alvarado
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Looking ahead Maipú take on the side everybody is chasing
54 Edition

The Maipú Sentinel

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Aron Agüero 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 Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Luciano Peraggini keeps Maipú in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Víctor Barrera says no to Metalurh Zaporizhzhia

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Víctor Barrera had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Squad

Tempers go at Maipú

Aron Agüero 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

Juan Cruz Giacone is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.26 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Words at Maipú training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Viguet 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.

Match

Juan Cruz Giacone sends Maipú past Gimnasia y Tiro

It finished 2‑1, and it was Juan Cruz Giacone’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Maipú.

The terraces

Maipú supporters have found a favourite in Juan Cruz Giacone

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan Cruz Giacone 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.

The dugout

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In brief

44 Edition

The Palestino Chronicle

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Still nobody has beaten Palestino

The unbeaten run reaches 12. 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 exchanged at Palestino

Julián Fernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Palestino

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joe Abrigo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Francisco Valenzuela stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Francisco Valenzuela and Palestino agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings

Marcelo Eggel runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Jonathan Benítez takes the honours

Marked 7.32 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Palestino had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

When it matters, Sebastián Pérez 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.

The dugout

Andrés Gigena 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.

The dugout

Federico Anselmo knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Palestino, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

36 Edition

The Palestino Chronicle

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Marcelo Eggel was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 24. 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Palestino

Julián Fernández 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 Palestino training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Benítez 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 dugout

No hiding place for Joe Abrigo

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

Match

Late, late show earns Palestino a point

Minute 89, against Colo-Colo, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Player ratings

César Munder was the difference for Palestino

Marked 7.87. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

Sebastián Pérez gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sebastián Pérez is on it.

Match

César Munder rescues a point for Palestino

It needed César Munder to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Colo-Colo, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

Víctor González is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Víctor González 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.

In brief

33 Edition

The Palestino Chronicle

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Palestino's wait for a win

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

Match

Palestino cannot find the net

9 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Palestino

Julián Fernández 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.

Squad

Víctor González stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Víctor González and Palestino agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words at Palestino training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Benítez 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.

Match

Palestino come up short against Union La Calera

Union La Calera left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Víctor González

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

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Jean Valdes left the room before anybody could ask which.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Marcelo Eggel

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

30 Edition

The Palestino Chronicle

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Renato César

24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Palestino lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

The wait goes on for Palestino

6 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Palestino

6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Palestino can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Palestino lose Juan Sierralta

27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

A falling-out at Palestino

Julián Fernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jonathan Benítez 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

Jonathan Benítez takes the honours

Marked 7.35 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Palestino had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Jean Valdes was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Palestino dressing room was either.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Víctor González

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief