Marked for Máximo García
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Jul 2029
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Sport Huancayo had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Melgar have kept their man, and Sporting Cristal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
This is not rotation. Martín Távara has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sporting Cristal is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Diego Romero 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
19 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad30 Jul 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lionel Herrera and Sporting Cristal agree another 4 years.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
Luis Abram gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Luis Abram is on it.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cristiano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
Frank Ysique knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Frank Ysique trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jan 2029
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sporting Cristal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market29 Jan 2029
Leonardo Díaz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting Cristal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market29 Jan 2029
Diego Otoya hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Cristal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Diego Romero 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 dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Diego Otoya has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sporting Cristal is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Felipe Vizeu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Sporting Cristal are still strangers to each other
8 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 dugout29 Jan 2029
Martín Távara knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martín Távara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Abdu Conté 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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Marco 09 have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Rochinha has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Casa Pia is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Casa Pia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kotaro Nagata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
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 dugout24 Jul 2028
Kevin Prieto knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kevin Prieto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Jul 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. David Sousa may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Kevin Prieto wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Casa Pia have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jun 2028
Sebastián Pérez damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Jun 2028
The fee is $400.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Trofense drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Casa Pia
Jérémy Livolant and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Benfica wanted more than $420.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. André Geraldes has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Casa Pia is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Jun 2028
At 38, 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
He is 20, and nobody at Casa Pia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Casa Pia are still strangers to each other
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Wellington Silva
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 May 2028
Cassiano signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cassiano and Casa Pia agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Casa Pia
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Market8 May 2028
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
The dugout8 May 2028
This is not rotation. André Geraldes has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Casa Pia is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kélian Nsona 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 dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Máximo García, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 May 2028
Kélian Nsona knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casa Pia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 May 2028
Luis Fernando gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Luis Fernando is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Mar 2028
Wellington Silva damages knee ligaments — 90 days out
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
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.
Match4 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Casa Pia's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Casa Pia has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Kaíque Rocha wants continental football; whether Casa Pia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wellington Silva and Casa Pia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match4 Mar 2028
Benfica left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
“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 dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Máximo García
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Wellington Silva
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Máximo García: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Casa Pia
Zaidu Sanusi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Feb 2028
The goals have deserted Casa Pia
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Casa Pia can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“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.
Match19 Feb 2028
Rio Ave left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcos Pintos and Casa Pia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces3 Jan 2028
The mood at Casa Pia 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jan 2028
The name of André Gomes has come up in conversations Casa Pia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market3 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Casa Pia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kélian Nsona is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match1 Jan 2028
3 matches without a goal for Casa Pia
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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mafra have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jorge Mora and Casa Pia agree another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
Máximo García is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Zaidu Sanusi in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Dec 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Henrique Araújo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Casa Pia.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Abdu Conté
“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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market13 Dec 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“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; Casa Pia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Abdu Conté is still paying for one afternoon at Casa Pia
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.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nuno Pacheco kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Casa Pia's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Casa Pia has to find a result from somewhere.
Match29 Nov 2027
Casa Pia sink to position 16
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Máximo García: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Jérémy Livolant ran the middle of the pitch — 6.63
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 19 combined actions and a mark of 6.63, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match27 Nov 2027
Casa Pia cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match27 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nuno Pacheco after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Cassiano has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Casa Pia 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Sep 2027
Cup progress for Casa Pia
A 2‑1 win over Lusitânia Lourosa, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market20 Sep 2027
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
At 22 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Casa Pia
Pedro Rosas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
The afternoon belonged to Raúl Blanco
A mark of 7.71, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match18 Sep 2027
It needed Cassiano to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Torreense, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Máximo García, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Casa Pia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Raúl Blanco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.