Marked for Ianson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
William Alves damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Robinho
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Robinho 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 Santa Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Quirino
“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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Santa Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eurico Lima 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
William Alves damages knee ligaments — 48 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Match12 Aug 2026
Internacional go through and Santa Cruz go home, 2‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Robinho
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Santa Cruz
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Santa Cruz are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Robinho 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 Santa Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Aug 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Santa Cruz and Internacional in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Ianson
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Andrey 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Point won or two lost for Santa Cruz?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Paysandu? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
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Player ratings
Vitinho could not find anything
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Player ratings
An afternoon Ianson will want back
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
William Alves damages knee ligaments — 56 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 56 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Robinho 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 Santa Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Renato
“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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Robinho at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Santa Cruz.
Market10 Aug 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Ianson'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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Quirino keeps on missing
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for William Alves
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Santa Cruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dieguinho gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dieguinho has just signed for Santa Cruz, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Renato signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Renato commits to Santa Cruz for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Robinho 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Criciuma, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Ianson could not find anything
2.86. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Santa Cruz, another week without a signature from Robinho.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Robinho
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.