Marked for José Vanetta
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Unión de Santa Fe's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Unión de Santa Fe has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Aug 2027
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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Tomás Romero 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 Unión de Santa Fe can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Aug 2027
Tomás Romero has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Unión de Santa Fe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Junior Marabel 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
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Club have kept their man, and Unión de Santa Fe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match7 Aug 2027
0‑1 to Estudiantes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” José Vanetta and Unión de Santa Fe agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Brahian Cuello 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Artigas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Progreso is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market14 Jun 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 The request is on a desk at Progreso, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$270.0K settles it between the clubs for Álex Perdomo
Defensor Sporting have accepted the money. What Progreso do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Luciano Inverso gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Luciano Inverso has just signed for Progreso, and for once the answer mattered.
Market14 Jun 2027
The fee is $730.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Rentistas drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Market14 Jun 2027
Nacional paid $940.0K and Progreso took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$160.0K on the table at Rentistas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Progreso offered $420.0K; Penarol said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Progreso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Oliva 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 May 2027
The wait goes on for Progreso
13 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.
Market31 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Progreso can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout31 May 2027
Marcos Paolini: 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.” Progreso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market31 May 2027
Marcos Paolini has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Progreso they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Progreso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Christian Oliva 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 dugout31 May 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.
Match29 May 2027
Plaza Colonia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings31 May 2027
The game went through Diego Sánchez — 6.33
Marked 6.33 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
In brief
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Match
Halfway: Progreso sit in position 15
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Player ratings
José Vanetta runs at them all day
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Progreso
10 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.
Match10 May 2027
Progreso are in real trouble now
Position 15, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad10 May 2027
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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Progreso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Oliva 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.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Progreso
Juan Sebastián Rivero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match8 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Agustín Codagnone and Progreso agree another 4 years.
The dugout10 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gabriel Ferreira after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Progreso
6 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Codagnone will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Progreso the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Christian Oliva 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Progreso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Sergio Cabrera, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
José Vanetta gets it from the manager
“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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Progreso caught on 93 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Miramar Misiones scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
7.90, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Progreso had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Ayrton Cougo is still being punished for one mistake
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Progreso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Oliva 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Progreso
Gonzalo Silva 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonzalo Silva, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Agustín Pinheiro'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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“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 Progreso will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
José Vanetta 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 José Vanetta is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Mar 2027
Progreso bow out of the cup
Deutscher FK go through and Progreso go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Progreso's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Progreso has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Christian Oliva 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 7.02, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Gonzalo Silva 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
“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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Progreso dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 Mar 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Progreso lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Progreso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Marcos Paolini
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marcos Paolini will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Progreso the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Progreso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emiliano Álvarez 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Progreso
Gonzalo Silva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ayrton Cougo'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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Progreso
Renzo Bacchia 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 Oct 2026
Words at Progreso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emiliano Álvarez 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of José Vanetta
“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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 Sebastián Rivero is on it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emiliano Álvarez and Progreso agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market3 Aug 2026
David Santo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Progreso they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Progreso
Renzo Bacchia 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Progreso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emiliano Álvarez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Match1 Aug 2026
It needed José Vanetta to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Wanderers, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Gabriel Ferreira after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.