Marked for Mariano Bracamonte
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Deportivo Riestra had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Corinthians keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 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 dugout21 Dec 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.
The dugout21 Dec 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Nicolás Watson 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 Nicolás Watson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Dec 2026
5‑0. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.
Squad14 Dec 2026
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Deportivo Riestra people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout14 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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 ratings14 Dec 2026
A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Door shut on André
Deportivo Riestra asked and Corinthians said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.99 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Ignacio Arce
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Gallo: 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.
Squad9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 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.
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
Pablo Monje left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Pablo Monje will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mauro Smarra 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Samuel Portillo
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jorge Luque commits to Deportivo Riestra for another 4 years.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 dugout2 Nov 2026
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 Alexander Díaz is on it.
The dugout2 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Oct 2026
0‑0 against Montevideo City Torque, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match24 Oct 2026
4 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.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Rodrigo Gallo has agreed terms with Lanús for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
Platense left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Nicolás Sansotre will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Oct 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.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Ignacio Arce
“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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Pablo Quiroga to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Antony Alonso 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Deportivo Riestra money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Sep 2026
35 days out for Santino Coppola 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A one-man rearguard from Ignacio Arce
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Nicolás Benegas did the work nobody counts — 6.78
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.
Squad14 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad24 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Fabricio Ventresca, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.45
A mark of 8.45 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Match22 Aug 2026
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mariano Bracamonte 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.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
At 21 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Aug 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.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Squad17 Aug 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mariano Bracamonte, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.83 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Deportivo Riestra had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Pablo Quiroga on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.