20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom15 Nov 2032
136% of the income goes out in wages at Porto Vitória
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
Squad15 Nov 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabinho 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jackson signs something — a contract at Porto Vitória or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Lucas Lopes did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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 20 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Porto Vitória is running low.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cássio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Cássio.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Porto Vitória told Rodriguinho something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Cássio
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Everybody at Porto Vitória saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cássio 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Facundo Centurión 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 manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Sep 2032
Rodriguinho, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 20 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.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Cássio knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Rojas 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Facundo Centurión's mistake
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Porto Vitória is running low.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Porto Vitória asked and Internacional said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad2 Aug 2032
Lucas Lopes is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Porto Vitória will try very hard not to make too much of it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Porto Vitória are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Lucas Lopes did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The deal with Azuriz 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.
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 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cássio 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.
22 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings5 Jul 2032
Lucas Lopes, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: São Paulo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Porto Vitória asked and Ponte Preta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
20 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Porto Vitória will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Porto Vitória asked and Volta Redonda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cássio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Porto Vitória will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Porto Vitória will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
1‑10 to Nova Iguaçu, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Porto Vitória and Nova Iguaçu, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cássio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Porto Vitória will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There were 7 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.
Player ratings10 May 2032
Lucas Lopes, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.60
A mark of 7.60 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
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.
Alex 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Facundo Centurión 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Porto Vitória is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Porto Vitória is running low.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Xavier 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 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.
Lucas Lopes arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
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 Fábio Mendes is on 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 Porto Vitória, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Mar 2032
José Peixoto 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.
Alex 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Porto Vitória, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Porto Vitória is running low.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Fernando Guimarães 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 Fabinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Porto Vitória, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jackson signs something — a contract at Porto Vitória or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Peixoto 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.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
He is 20, and nobody at Porto Vitória signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
6 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.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Xavier 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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2032
150% of the income goes out in wages at Porto Vitória
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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 Porto Vitória would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Feb 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabinho 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Porto Vitória know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Porto Vitória the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Xavier 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.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jackson signs something — a contract at Porto Vitória or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Porto Vitória 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Position 14 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Xavier was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Porto Vitória is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and José Xavier trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Porto Vitória know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Porto Vitória could ask drops and the wages José Peixoto can ask rise.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Facundo Centurión 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.
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.
Squad19 Jan 2032
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Adams 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jackson signs something — a contract at Porto Vitória or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Porto Vitória 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.
The mood at Porto Vitória 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santos have kept their man, and Porto Vitória go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad29 Dec 2031
José Peixoto 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.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rodrygo Cunha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Porto Vitória will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
The dugoutHernán Rossi is still being punished for one mistake
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Porto Vitória asked and Goianésia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
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.
Porto Vitória have made the call to Corinthians. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is 19, and nobody at Porto Vitória signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Porto Vitória, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 12 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Facundo Centurión 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.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Porto Vitória is running low.
0‑8 to Boavista, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Porto Vitória are no longer polite ones.
Match22 Nov 2031
Nobody could stop scoring
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Porto Vitória and Boavista in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Porto Vitória are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rodrygo Cunha did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. Ceilândia had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 101 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Porto Vitória is running low.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
18 combined actions and 6.84. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Oct 2031
José Xavier 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“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.
The dugout13 Oct 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Hernán Rossi'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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Porto Vitória know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Porto Vitória lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings29 Sep 2031
Rodrygo Cunha, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.79
A mark of 7.79 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Porto Vitória are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Porto Vitória now know that too.
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Porto Vitória lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 to Caxias, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Porto Vitória are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
143 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Porto Vitória lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
10 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Mixto were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.70. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
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.” Interim Coach, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
150 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Sep 2031
A place in the month's best eleven for Alex Nogueira
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Alex Nogueira has come out of that comparison in the side, and Porto Vitória have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Porto Vitória told Fernando Guimarães something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
157 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑6 to Nova Iguaçu, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Porto Vitória is running low.
Match30 Aug 2031
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Porto Vitória and Nova Iguaçu in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Xavier 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 164 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.
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Facundo Centurión and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Peixoto 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.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $4.1M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutJosé Xavier is still being punished for one mistake
The dugoutRodrygo Cunha knocks on the manager’s door
171 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Porto Vitória and Água Santa, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad18 Aug 2031
José Peixoto 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.
Boardroom18 Aug 2031
186% of the income goes out in wages at Porto Vitória
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The mood at Porto Vitória 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.
1‑5 against Pouso Alegre, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Position 14 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Porto Vitória and Pouso Alegre, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Porto Vitória are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Facundo Centurión and Porto Vitória agree another 3 years.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The shirt still fits. José Peixoto is back at Porto Vitória, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The enquiry everybody at Porto Vitória was hoping would not arrive has arrived. He has never pretended he did not want to go back, and now there is somewhere to go back to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Horizonte have kept their man, and Porto Vitória go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $4.2M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
“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 Porto Vitória, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Porto Vitória asked and Goianésia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The deal with Cianorte 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.
Porto Vitória asked and ASA said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
11 combined actions and 7.25. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Facundo Centurión 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.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlão, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fernando Guimarães 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.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout7 Jul 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Pedro Martins is in the works
Transfer targetsA loan move for Eduardo Tavares is in the works
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Porto Vitória have done the hard part with Figueirense, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Corinthians have kept their man, and Porto Vitória go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The goal that put Capital ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Porto Vitória equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Porto Vitória lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The name of Kaique has come up in conversations Porto Vitória were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Fernando Guimarães 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
It finished 1-7. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
8 goals in one match, Fábio Mendes on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Porto Vitória and Grêmio.
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.
Boardroom26 May 2031
114% of the income goes out in wages at Porto Vitória
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Facundo Centurión 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 manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout19 May 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $4.0M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Position 15 and 18 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad31 Mar 2031
José Xavier 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.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Porto Vitória would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $4.0M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Porto Vitória, and both men came out saying it was fine.
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Arthur Viana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo Centurión signs something — a contract at Porto Vitória or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto Vitória lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Porto Vitória can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Words at Porto Vitória training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaique 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Nahuel Bravo was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Porto Vitória, another week without a signature from Sérgio Costa.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Porto Vitória would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Nahuel Bravo 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chapecoense have kept their man, and Porto Vitória go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sérgio Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alex Borges trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Porto Vitória know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.