Marked for Alexander Díaz
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
87 days out for Rodrigo Gallo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Riestra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market9 Aug 2027
Puebla come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Deportivo Riestra did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cristian Paz commits to Deportivo Riestra for another 2 years.
Match7 Aug 2027
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Cristian Paz 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 Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
13 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Ignacio Arce has given nobody the chance.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 7.54. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Market9 Aug 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout9 Aug 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.” Julián Miranda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jul 2027
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Rodrigo Gallo out for 117 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Riestra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Jul 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Deportivo Riestra, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Cristian Paz 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 Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Pedro Ramírez 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 dugout12 Jul 2027
Alexander Díaz 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 Deportivo Riestra, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Market12 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antony Alonso signs something — a contract at Deportivo Riestra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market12 Jul 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Alexander Díaz: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportivo Riestra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Jul 2027
“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 Deportivo Riestra, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Mariano Bracamonte and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Pedro Ramírez 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Market5 Jul 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Deportivo Riestra, another week without a signature from Nicolás Sansotre.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Luque, and the manager let it.
Market5 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Facundo Miño’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Rodrigo Gallo 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 Rodrigo Gallo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 May 2027
No end in sight to Deportivo Riestra's wait for a win
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Deportivo Riestra has to find a result from somewhere.
Match15 May 2027
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Deportivo Riestra can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad17 May 2027
Mariano Bracamonte 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Nicolás Caro Torres 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 dugout17 May 2027
“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 dugout17 May 2027
Alexander Díaz 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 Deportivo Riestra, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Julián Miranda was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Deportivo Riestra dressing room was either.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 May 2027
13 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.
Match8 May 2027
6 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Mariano Bracamonte and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Both jobs done by Mauro Smarra — 6.87
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 6.87, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Deportivo Riestra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Ramírez 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Obredor
“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.
The dugout10 May 2027
Alexander Díaz 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 dugout10 May 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.” Julián Miranda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 May 2027
12 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.
Match3 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Deportivo Riestra
Position 15 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Riestra may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match1 May 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad3 May 2027
Cristian Paz 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Pedro Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad3 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joaquín Bonnin and Deportivo Riestra agree another 5 years.
Squad3 May 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Gustavo Fernández 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.
Market3 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Deportivo Riestra, another week without a signature from Nicolás Sansotre.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Riestra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match20 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Mariano Bracamonte 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Mar 2027
Vélez left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Sansotre, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Julián Miranda after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexander Díaz
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market7 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Ángel Stringa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ángel Stringa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Riestra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mariano Bracamonte and Deportivo Riestra agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Cristian Paz 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 Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 65 days on the sidelines for Thiago Lauro, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Obredor
“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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Nicolás Caro Torres's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Pablo Monje 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexander Díaz
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Mauro Smarra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauro Smarra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Riestra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Rodrigo Gallo 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Cristian Paz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
Market30 Nov 2026
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Deportivo Riestra could get for him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Deportivo Riestra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johnson Nsumoh 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Ángel Stringa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Deportivo Riestra 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Deportivo Riestra. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexander Díaz
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market23 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Rodrigo Gallo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rodrigo Gallo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Riestra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Cristian Paz 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Pedro Ramírez 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Cruz Randazzo, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jorge Luque commits to Deportivo Riestra for another 4 years.
Market23 Nov 2026
The Facundo Miño talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Deportivo Riestra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market23 Nov 2026
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Deportivo Riestra could ask drops and the wages Nicolás Caro Torres can ask rise.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Riestra lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market16 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Caro Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Riestra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Cristian Paz 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Deportivo Riestra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Ramírez 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Alexander Díaz 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 Alexander Díaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Antony Alonso’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ignacio Arce 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Alexander Díaz damages knee ligaments — 47 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mariano Bracamonte will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Riestra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mariano Bracamonte has agreed terms with Estudiantes for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Facundo Miño and Deportivo Riestra agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Nicolás Benegas 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Obredor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Deportivo Riestra, another week without a signature from Mariano Bracamonte.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Deportivo Riestra they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Cristian Paz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Something was said to Mariano Bracamonte and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.26. 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Vélez came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Antony Alonso and Deportivo Riestra agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Cristian Paz 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 7.08, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Deportivo Riestra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Díaz 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
Cristian Paz 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Núñez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Benjamín Romero is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Luis Alberto Benítez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Noah Arce is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ignacio Arce commits to Deportivo Riestra for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Cristian Paz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
14 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
6.96, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Deportivo Riestra had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Antony Alonso 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 Antony Alonso trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.