The ABC Sentinel
Squad9 Aug 2027
The knee: Lucas Souza out for 98 days
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. ABC lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Bruno Leite was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 42. 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A falling-out at ABC
Marquinhos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Door shut on Cayetano Bolzán
ABC asked and Gimnasia La Plata said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at ABC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edson 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
Two points walk out of the ground
Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon ABC had all but put away. Santa Cruz will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Geilson signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Geilson and ABC agree another 3 years.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marquinhos takes the honours
Marked 7.87 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, ABC had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
No hiding place for João Denoni
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to João Denoni, and the manager let it.
In brief
- Match ABC and Santa Cruz take a point apiece
- The dugout Bruno Leite knocks on the manager’s door
- The dugout Half-satisfied: Leonardo Batista on the draw