João Ricardo

Goalkeeper - Fortaleza
27 Aug 2026
Thursday
Process

Marked for João Ricardo

4 Edition

The Fortaleza Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Lucas Crispim damages knee ligaments — 34 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.

Match

Fortaleza run riot against Juventude

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

Juan Miritello takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Pedro Henrique yet — 8.25

At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.25 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Boardroom

Arthur Barbosa has agreed to leave Fortaleza for nothing

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Fortaleza

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

Player ratings

Juan Miritello was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.41. 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.

The terraces

One of their own: Rodriguinho

He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

A bad afternoon for Fortaleza against Santos

0‑2 to Santos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

Back issues
2 Edition

The Fortaleza Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Lucas Crispim out for 50 days

50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fortaleza lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Guilherme Moura has said yes to Casa Pia

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Fortaleza have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

João Ricardo stands alone

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

Market

The Nathan Fogaça conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Felgueiras will make the call about Nathan Fogaça this week. Fortaleza have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

Lucas Gazal stays put

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

Squad

Lucas Sasha 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 Fortaleza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Fortaleza

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Match

Vitória take the points off Fortaleza

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

Market

Fortaleza promote Júnior Carvalho from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Júnior Carvalho 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.

In brief