Marked for Antônio
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 May 2027
No end in sight to Nautico's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Nautico has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 May 2027
52 days out for Paulo Sérgio after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Nautico will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad31 May 2027
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.
Match29 May 2027
Nautico are shipping goals every week
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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.80, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad31 May 2027
Reginaldo Lopes 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.
Match29 May 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Nautico
Auremir 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 dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Felipe Saraiva, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Nautico had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olimpia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Nautico training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Reginaldo Lopes 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Nautico asked and Racing Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Auremir 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 Nautico this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Henrique Devens is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Vinícius is still paying for one afternoon at Nautico
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Nautico. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
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The dugout
Arthur knocks on the manager's door
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Market
The window shut and Antônio is still in the building
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The dugout
Júnior Todinho keeps his manager's vote
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
Up they go: Nautico promoted
Confirmed, mathematical, and a town awake all night. Whatever else the season contained, it finishes a division higher than it started.
Market14 Dec 2026
Antônio puts it in writing
“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 Nautico, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Reginaldo Lopes 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 targets14 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Universitario have kept their man, and Nautico go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Auremir 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 targets14 Dec 2026
Montevideo City Torque have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad14 Dec 2026
No place for Junior Arias in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Nautico are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market14 Dec 2026
No place for Wanderson in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Wanderson has his answer from Nautico; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market14 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Muriel 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Nautico
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arnaldo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Antônio 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.
In brief
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The dugout
Henrique Devens has been promised minutes
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Squad
Rodrigo Leal is not doing himself any favours
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Yuri
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Squad
Yuri is training like a man with a point to make
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nautico this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Juninho 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Vinícius'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.
In brief
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The dugout
Muriel has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
A door opens for Ernando
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The dugout
Antônio asks for a word with the manager