Marked for Ramon
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Rodrigo Fonseca out for 57 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Caxias will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Pedro Raul is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.33 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Ignacio 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Caxias
Rato 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pedro Raul. 2‑0 against Boavista, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luan Polli, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A one-man rearguard from Luan Polli
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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Jackson says Caxias went back on their word
“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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 33 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Caxias training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marlon Douglas 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Caxias asked and Chapecoense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match22 Jun 2027
Caxias get the job done against ABC
A 1‑0 win over ABC, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Ignacio shuts the door
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market28 Jun 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Wesley Rodrigues has his answer from Caxias; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Carlos de Pena damages knee ligaments — 65 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at São Paulo
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad1 Mar 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 São Paulo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
A promise honoured at São Paulo
Something was said to Aurélio Buta and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
When it matters, Felipinho plays
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at São Paulo would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market1 Mar 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at São Paulo, another week without a signature from Lucão.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
A door opens for Ramon
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Arthur Maron 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 Arthur Maron trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Carlos de Pena
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Paulo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
The mood at São Paulo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market4 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. São Paulo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Pressure builds in the São Paulo boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Zé Roberto: 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.” São Paulo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. São Paulo had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at São Paulo heard it as anything else.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gustavo Gómez and São Paulo agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market4 Jan 2027
A season away well spent by Ramon
19 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at São Paulo now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Goiás
Lucas Ribeiro 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Diego Caito gets picked when it counts
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 Diego Caito is on it.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sassá’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Goiás needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Diego Caito talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Goiás know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
A door opens for Moisés
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Next up at home: Criciúma, who go into it in position 5. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
In brief
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Squad
Ramon makes the division’s eleven — 6.88
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Squad
Word from the training ground: Nicolas
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The dugout
The manager comes out for Baldória
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Squad
Saulo is out on the grass again
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gustavo Nescau
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Goiás lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Goiás's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Goiás has to find a result from somewhere.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a goal for Goiás
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Diego Caito 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 Goiás this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Pedrinho
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Ramon was immovable
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Pedrinho has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Goiás 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. América Mineiro will be the happier side with the point.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Rodrigues's mistake
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Market
The Tadeu talk will not go away
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The dugout
No place in the plan for Luisão
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Esli García beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 40. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad2 Nov 2026
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Goiás lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Goiás's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Goiás has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Goiás
Diego Caito and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match31 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Goiás
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Goiás can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Ribeiro, and the manager let it.
Match31 Oct 2026
Goiás come up short against Avaí
Avaí left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout2 Nov 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Fernando Carvalho to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
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Player ratings
The afternoon belonged to Ramon
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Squad
Bookings catch up with Machado
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The dugout
When it matters, Esli García plays