2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Miguel Marulanda will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Sampaio Corrêa escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.75, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Esli García 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sampaio Corrêa pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutPaulo Ricardo asks for a word with the manager
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 The request is on a desk at Sampaio Corrêa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Sampaio Corrêa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esli García 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Corrêa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Sampaio Corrêa will try not to make too much of it.
“I watch every Sampaio Corrêa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Shirak runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Felipe Cauã has his answer from Sampaio Corrêa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Position 2, 61 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matheus Soares will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sampaio Corrêa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Miguel Marulanda. 1‑0 against Brusque, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Alex Penoni 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 won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.58, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adriano Rodrigues will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sampaio Corrêa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Corrêa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Esli García 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.
7 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout18 Oct 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 1‑2 Eduardo Pacheco left the room before anybody could ask which.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Adryan.
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.
58 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Miguel Marulanda provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adryan and Sampaio Corrêa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Paulo Ricardo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Miguel Marulanda 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Gabriel Silva was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Esli García at his very best
Fabinho 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Esli García 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Adryan is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Sampaio Corrêa have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
“I watch every Sampaio Corrêa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Shirak runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Matheusinho is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Corrêa 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 Esli García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sampaio Corrêa has been clear about where Matheus Soares stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Eduardo Pacheco after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Iago Oliveira is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
The dugoutMatheusinho dropped after a run of poor form
20 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A brace, and Gabriel Silva takes the afternoon — 8.18
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gabriel Silva provided it, and the 8.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
1 for Kelvyn, marked 7.87, 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.
Matheusinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Sampaio Corrêa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Esli García 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gabriel Silva. 3‑1 against Ypiranga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Aarón Reartes has his answer from Sampaio Corrêa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Confiança scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sampaio Corrêa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thalles 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.
Sampaio Corrêa asked and São Paulo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Sampaio Corrêa, and 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Adryan in the middle of it, and Maringá unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
15 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.
“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 Sampaio Corrêa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Thalles and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Sampaio Corrêa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renê Sousa 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.
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.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Humaitá waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sampaio Corrêa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Up for the corner, and Iago Oliveira delivers — 7.86
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Iago Oliveira scored, was marked 7.86, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The deal with Ferroviária 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sampaio Corrêa 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.” Sampaio Corrêa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Corrêa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Renê Sousa 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 first defeat in 6 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against ABC; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.11 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Match17 Apr 2027
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Sampaio Corrêa. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Fabinho 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gui Franca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adriano Rodrigues will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sampaio Corrêa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thalles 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Wesley Cavalcante 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.
5 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 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.
Nobody at Sampaio Corrêa 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thalles provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match21 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Sampaio Corrêa. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Thalles in the middle of it, and Imperatriz unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Marked 8.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
7 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Matheusinho 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Sampaio Corrêa and Trem, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Gustavo Furtado 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Gabriel Silva was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gustavo Furtado provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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 7.88 for the rest of it.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Sampaio Corrêa know which stage they are at.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Gustavo Furtado 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.
Marked 7.19 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Corrêa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Sampaio Corrêa know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Squad14 Sep 2026
18 new faces, and Sampaio Corrêa 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Eduardo Pacheco on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Sampaio Corrêa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jardson 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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sampaio Corrêa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Alex Sandre takes the afternoon — 8.17
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alex Sandre provided it, and the 8.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 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.
Thalles 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Matheus Soares has, at Sampaio Corrêa, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Adryan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Sampaio Corrêa will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sampaio Corrêa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.49 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 8.36 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 8.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Corrêa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.