Marked for André Luís
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Jul 2027
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Tiquinho Soares scored in the 88th minute, Oeste had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Mirassol took the lot.
Market19 Jul 2027
Mirassol say no — this time
The offer from ABC for Alex Muralha was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Tiquinho Soares, 36, rolls back the years — 8.57
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.57 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market19 Jul 2027
Juventude pay $2.1M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market19 Jul 2027
The chase for Leandro Kauã ended with $480.0K changing hands and Nautico out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Eduardo 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tiquinho Soares. 2‑1 against Oeste, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Igor Cariús 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 May 2027
Igor Formiga: 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.” Mirassol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 May 2027
Nobody wants to play Mirassol right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo 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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
A performance of 9.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match15 May 2027
Three points for Mirassol, 2‑1 the final word against ABC in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad17 May 2027
No hiding place for Alesson
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alesson, and the manager let it.
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 May 2027
Negueba puts it in writing
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match1 May 2027
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Mirassol scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Tiquinho Soares, 36, rolls back the years — 8.84
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.84 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Match1 May 2027
Oeste made Mirassol work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Ninety minutes of Antonio Galeano at his very best
Marked 9.33. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mirassol.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.23 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Oct 2026
Mirassol sink to position 20
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mirassol may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Oct 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Mirassol's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mirassol has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Renato Marques 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
Eduardo 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Cruzeiro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Walter
“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.
In brief
-
Player ratings
André Luís was on a different afternoon to everybody else
-
Market
Denilson wants European nights
-
Player ratings
Renato Marques leaves them behind him