17 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Godoy Cruz and Central Córdoba SdE have settled on $140.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Santiago Martínez again, and this time the name on the line is Fénix. Godoy Cruz are listening politely and promising nothing.
The deal that would have taken Luciano Pascual to Banfield has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Godoy Cruz with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Lucas Arce 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Vélez is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Lucas Arce 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 fee is $160.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Sarmiento drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Colegiales will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Franco Zicarelli has pre-agreed a move to Godoy Cruz, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Santiago Martínez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with Colón; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Independiente Rivadavia paid $2.6M and Godoy Cruz took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Gimnasia y Esgrima moved on, Lautaro Porres reports back to Godoy Cruz, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Godoy Cruz and River Plate have settled on $130.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“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 Godoy Cruz hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lucas Arce 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 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Godoy Cruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lucas Arce 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.
Colón next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Godoy Cruz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A mark of 7.74, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Giménez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Godoy Cruz dressing room was either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Godoy Cruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Leandro Quiroz 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agustín Auzmendi. 1‑0 against Talleres, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mateo Giménez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Godoy Cruz, another week without a signature from Leandro Quiroz.
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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Godoy Cruz has been clear about where Francisco Gerometta stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lautaro Porres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Lucas Arce 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gonzalo Abrego was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Godoy Cruz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Willian Riquelme is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Godoy Cruz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luciano Romano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Lucas Arce 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Vicente Poggi 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 name of Agustín Valverde has come up in conversations Godoy Cruz were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
29 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad14 Feb 2028
16 new faces, and Godoy Cruz are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Union La Calera had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal that would have taken Leandro Quiroz to Sacachispas has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Godoy Cruz with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Godoy Cruz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Up for the corner, and Vicente Poggi delivers — 7.56
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Vicente Poggi scored, was marked 7.56, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The offer from All Boys for Lautaro Porres was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Godoy Cruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Vicente Poggi 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 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.
Something was said to Bruno Leyes and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luciano Pascual has his answer from Godoy Cruz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutJuan Andrada has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 53 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Godoy Cruz people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Godoy Cruz will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Godoy Cruz have done the hard part with Rosario Central, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
13 games, 4 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Godoy Cruz now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
In brief
SquadWords at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Godoy Cruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Godoy Cruz have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Tigre for Lautaro Porres was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Lorenzo Orzán is living that version at Godoy Cruz, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vicente Poggi 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.
68 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Godoy Cruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
He is going to Rosario Central, the club has $5.2M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Godoy Cruz have had the benefit of it.
Rosario Central pay $5.2M, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Lucas Arce 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.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Godoy Cruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lucas Arce 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Schamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robertino Giacomini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Willian Riquelme is on it.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Oscar Gonzalez’s exile
120 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Godoy Cruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
“I watch every Godoy Cruz game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rentistas runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Barrea trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Godoy Cruz 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 128 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
21 goals in 22 games at Recoleta — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Godoy Cruz updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Lucas Arce and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
Something was said to Lucas Arce and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Barrionuevo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Godoy Cruz 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.
Position 6, 55 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Arce wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Felipe Cairus has agreed terms with Atlético Tucumán for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Tomás Pozzo 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 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Agustín Auzmendi has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Nobody at Godoy Cruz 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Misael Sosa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Two goals and a mark of 8.75 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
3 goals inside twenty minutes with Agustín Auzmendi in the middle of it, and Agropecuario Argentino unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Schamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Godoy Cruz pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mateo Giménez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Vicente Poggi
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Godoy Cruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Lucas Arce 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Colón made Godoy Cruz work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 7.74 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Benjamín Schamine 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Gimnasia y Esgrima spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
21 goals in 22 games at Recoleta — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Godoy Cruz updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Nahuel Romero has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Godoy Cruz have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Vicente Poggi has his answer from Godoy Cruz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Schamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nicolás Claa 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.
Add another name to the list: Mamelodi Sundowns have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniel Barrea. The answer from Godoy Cruz has not changed — yet.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Arce 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Valentín Sánchez has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Godoy Cruz have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agustín Auzmendi. 2‑0 against Talleres, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8.03. 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.
Gastón Gil Romero 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 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.
Lucas Arce 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 manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Mateo Giménez to a room that had heard them before.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Godoy Cruz pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Daniel Barrea is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Andorra had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Godoy Cruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The deal that would have taken Lautaro Porres to Patronato has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Godoy Cruz with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Lucas Arce 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Godoy Cruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Estudiantes waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
San Lorenzo paid $370.0K and Godoy Cruz took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Luciano Pascual had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The phone has started ringing about Juan Andrada again, and this time the name on the line is Rentistas. Godoy Cruz are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Lucas Arce 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.
He is 21 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Patronato waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The phone has started ringing about Lucas Arce again, and this time the name on the line is Fénix. Godoy Cruz are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gastón Gil Romero 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mateo Giménez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Kalamata had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lautaro Rivarola is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Lucas Arce 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.
Banfield paid $29.0K and Godoy Cruz took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Gastón Gil Romero 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Santiago Martínez wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Godoy Cruz have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
19 goals in 17 games at Recoleta — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Godoy Cruz updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Daniel Barrea wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Bruno Leyes 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
26 games, 6 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Godoy Cruz now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Agustín Auzmendi wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Lucas Arce 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.
26 games, 6 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Godoy Cruz now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mateo Giménez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Barrionuevo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Facundo Altamira wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Gastón Gil Romero 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Agustín Auzmendi has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
In brief
The dugoutJuan Andrada has become a man the manager trusts
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Vicente Poggi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Godoy Cruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Lucas Arce 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luciano Romano and Godoy Cruz agree another 4 years.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Nobody left the Godoy Cruz 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.
The dugout10 May 2027
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 Mateo Giménez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Godoy Cruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.70, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Godoy Cruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Oscar Gonzalez did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Arce 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Enzo Briones 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.
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Godoy Cruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1 for Vicente Poggi, marked 7.92, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mateo Giménez on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Orosco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bruno Leyes 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Lucas Arce 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Santiago Martínez wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
A mark of 7.25, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Brian Orosco
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Godoy Cruz told Facundo Altamira something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Felipe Cairus 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Godoy Cruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Godoy Cruz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Tomás Rossi has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Lucas Arce 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.
Almirante Brown made Godoy Cruz work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Daniel Barrea was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
Braian Salvareschi 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luciano Pascual, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mateo Giménez, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
9.53. 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Arce 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 ratings15 Mar 2027
Daniel Barrea was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Mateo Giménez could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Brian Orosco
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Santiago Martínez is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Godoy Cruz has been clear about where Tomás Rossi stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 ratings22 Feb 2027
Nahuel Brunet was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Daniel Barrea was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. 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.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
11 combined actions and 6.78. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cerrito waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Godoy Cruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Lucas Arce 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.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.97, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Godoy Cruz and San Telmo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Godoy Cruz can pretend not to have heard.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Agustín Auzmendi wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Lucas Arce’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Godoy Cruz needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Godoy Cruz have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Universidad Catolica pay $5.8M, 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.
He is going to Universidad Catolica, the club has $5.8M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Lucas Arce 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Schamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Universidad Catolica waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Oriental had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Godoy Cruz offered $2.7M; Unión de Santa Fe said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Huracán is saying, and nobody at Godoy Cruz is enjoying the guessing.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Lucas Arce 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Godoy Cruz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Godoy Cruz people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer went to Unión de Santa Fe this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The offer from Rampla Juniors for Juan Andrada was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal with Coquimbo Unido is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mauricio Di Gubio has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Lucas Arce 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.
“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 Godoy Cruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Valverde will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Vicente Poggi 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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Add another name to the list: Rampla Juniors have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Juan Andrada. The answer from Godoy Cruz has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Guarani had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Godoy Cruz people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Luigi Cendales has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
The offer from Resistencia for Emanuel Quinteros was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Lucas Arce 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
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
Transfer targetsA loan move for Tobías Donsanti is in the works
Transfer targetsA loan move for Franco Déboli is in the works
The phone has started ringing about Mateo Mendoza again, and this time the name on the line is Cerro Porteno. Godoy Cruz are listening politely and promising nothing.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lautaro Rivarola is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Real Pilar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emanuel Quinteros will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Misael Sosa wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Universidad Catolica have kept their man, and Godoy Cruz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Schamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Godoy Cruz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Godoy Cruz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Vicente Poggi
SquadVicente Poggi is the talk of the training ground
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leandro Quiroz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nahuel Ulariaga signs something — a contract at Godoy Cruz or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lucas Arce 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Orosco, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Francisco Gerometta signs something — a contract at Godoy Cruz or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Agustín Valverde trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Sharpest man there all week, by every account. It is the quietest line on this page and it usually runs the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Godoy Cruz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Viera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Godoy Cruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Godoy Cruz could ask drops and the wages Lucas Arce can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Godoy Cruz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Federico Milo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Godoy Cruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leandro Quiroz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Lucas Arce 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamín Schamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Godoy Cruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Godoy Cruz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Godoy Cruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Leandro Quiroz has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Lucas Arce 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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Godoy Cruz is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Godoy Cruz dressing room in a hurry
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Godoy Cruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Godoy Cruz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Godoy Cruz can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Everybody at Godoy Cruz saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
1 for Benjamín Schamine, marked 7.84, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Godoy Cruz and Agropecuario Argentino in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Misael Sosa wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
At 22 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel Ulariaga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Arce wants continental football; whether Godoy Cruz can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Lucas Arce 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Godoy Cruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Arce will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Godoy Cruz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Lucas Arce has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Lucas Arce 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.
9 goals in 7 games at Universidad de Concepcion — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Godoy Cruz updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
It needed Luciano Pascual to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Colón, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Valverde 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Godoy Cruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Godoy Cruz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Benjamín Schamine scored, was marked 7.72, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Emanuel Quinteros has agreed terms with UAI Urquiza for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Godoy Cruz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Schamine 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.