65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Brusque lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 The request is on a desk at Brusque, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Brusque is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Danielzinho 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Tiago Cunha after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 134 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Brusque will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Brusque is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Vitor Saci 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.
Nobody at Brusque 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Brusque will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Biel Fonseca 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Saci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Brusque 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.
Biel Fonseca 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.
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 Juan Teles is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jesús Cáceres trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and JP Martins has written the date down.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Brusque could ask drops and the wages Adauto Júnior can ask rise.
Biel Fonseca 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Saci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Bruno Paulo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Brusque has been clear about where Nelson Ferreira stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Brusque would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brusque can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. São Paulo have kept their man, and Brusque go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Vitor Saci 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Brusque has been clear about where Jean stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
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 Juan Teles is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and JP Martins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brusque can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Brusque have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Botafogo-SP moved on, Kevin Arrúa reports back to Brusque, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Brusque have done the hard part with América de Natal, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Brusque asked and Guarani said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Cristiano Junior has come up in conversations Brusque were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ángel Guerra has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brusque can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Brusque can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Brusque is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Biel Fonseca 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Saci 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Brusque has been clear about where Adauto Júnior stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 Santiago Chala is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jesús Cáceres trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 6, 64 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Position 6 on 64 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicolás Siri 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.
19 appearances and 5 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
“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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Brusque told Jesús Cáceres something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Brusque 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Maringá in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Brusque lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Marquinhos 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Bhayangkara Presisi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Brusque and fight for my place.” 12 appearances in 38 matches say the rest.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Rickson scored, was marked 7.64, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Marquinhos 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.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Brusque has been clear about where Vitor Saci stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Brusque lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 7.51 for the rest of it.
Dankler 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Bruno Paulo 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.
Botafogo-PB will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Brusque were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7.74, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Londrina have kept their man, and Brusque go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 ratings2 Aug 2027
Felipinho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
“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 Brusque, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Bruno Paulo 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.
Brusque asked and Novorizontino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mirassol keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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 7.35 for the rest of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brusque can pretend not to have heard.
Marquinhos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
Brusque asked and Itabirito said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Brusque people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Santos 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.
Matheus Nogueira 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
Adauto Júnior 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. São Paulo have kept their man, and Brusque go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Brusque had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mirassol, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Jesús Cáceres wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Jesús Cáceres found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Tombense went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
6 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.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Adauto Júnior 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.
Brusque asked and Juventude said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match5 Jun 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Brusque. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Rickson scored, was marked 7.79, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Marquinhos 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
“I watch every Brusque game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bhayangkara Presisi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Tiago Cunha could afford to be generous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brusque can pretend not to have heard.
Marquinhos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Brusque have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Renan Areias and Brusque agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 May 2027
Bruno Paulo 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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Volta Redonda will replay every second of the added time for a week.
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 7.92 for the rest of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.88, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Matheus Nogueira'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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Brusque have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Matheus Nogueira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
4 academy players handed senior numbers at Brusque
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Carlos Cunha 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Felipe Porto is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cabeludo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Léo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Marquinhos 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dhonata 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.
Marquinhos 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
“I watch every Brusque game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bhayangkara Presisi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Marquinhos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alex Moretti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brusque. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque 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 Dhonata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutKevin Arrúa knocks on the manager's door
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Brusque, another week without a signature from Alexandre Hans.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Brusque will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Adauto Júnior 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.
“I did not go to Bhayangkara Presisi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Brusque and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brusque. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Adauto Júnior 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandre Hans trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Brusque know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Marquinhos 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Adauto Júnior 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Adauto Júnior has written the date down.
Marquinhos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Adauto Júnior 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.
“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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Matheus Nogueira'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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dhonata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Ángel Guerra again, and this time the name on the line is Bhayangkara Presisi. Brusque are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Brusque will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
9 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Cristiano Junior has his answer from Brusque; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brusque. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Brusque will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The paperwork is done: Euder joins from Vasco da Gama in a deal worth $110.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Adauto Júnior 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 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. Brusque will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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.
Brusque have made the call to Boston River. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutAlexandre Hans asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Brusque will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Brusque and São Bernardo have settled on $75.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The deal with Dinamo Moscow 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.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
A loan enquiry to Ferrocarril Midland: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Brusque will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Brusque will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulinho 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
9 new faces, and Brusque 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adauto Júnior trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A season-long audition: Cruzeiro still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Brusque's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Brusque did not have in the autumn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Ypiranga had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Brusque are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Tiago Cunha after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutJesús Cáceres asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Adauto Júnior
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Gustavo Cañizales has, at Brusque, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dhonata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Brusque will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Floresta were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cipriano. 1‑0 against Floresta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 7.74 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
22 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Brusque will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Rickson scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cristiano Junior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Ituano defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Brusque. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Brusque know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Matheus Nogueira 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.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Brusque training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adauto Júnior 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 won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 7.15, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Adauto Júnior 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 is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Brusque are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ángel Guerra and Brusque agree another 4 years.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Tiago Cunha, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Cristiano Junior 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ángel Guerra has just signed for Brusque, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adauto Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 2‑2 draw with Tombense leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Tiago Cunha chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.