Marked for Thomas Callejas
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout6 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Diego Mencia has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at 12 de Junio is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 36 days on the sidelines for Thiago Arévalo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Jesús Méndez 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 12 de Junio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Aranda, and the manager let it.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
112% of the income goes out in wages at 12 de Junio
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.
Market6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Callejas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Jesús Méndez 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 Jesús Méndez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market6 Nov 2028
The clock does Jesús Méndez’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee 12 de Junio could ask drops and the wages Jesús Méndez can ask rise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Oct 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 The request is on a desk at 12 de Junio, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” 12 de Junio may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Oct 2028
21 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Jesús Méndez 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.
Boardroom16 Oct 2028
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Yair Kumru 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.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Orlín Barreto 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 Orlín Barreto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at 12 de Junio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Callejas 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.
Market16 Oct 2028
The shop window has Jesús Méndez in it
12 de Junio have let the market know Jesús Méndez can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
Pressure builds in the 12 de Junio boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match25 Sep 2028
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Jesús Méndez 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 dugout25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Willian León, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at 12 de Junio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Callejas 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“I want to play”: Willian León speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Jul 2028
12 de Junio are in real trouble now
Position 16, 16 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.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at 12 de Junio
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at 12 de Junio is running low.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” 12 de Junio may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match29 Jul 2028
The drought breaks for 12 de Junio
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Encarnacion were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Valdez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Oscar Cáceres 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 terraces31 Jul 2028
He is 22 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Diego Aranda 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.
Match29 Jul 2028
A 1‑0 win over Encarnacion, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Feb 2028
No end in sight to 12 de Junio's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at 12 de Junio has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Match5 Feb 2028
No clean sheets in sight for 12 de Junio
6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market7 Feb 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around 12 de Junio they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Feb 2028
César Villagra 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Sergio Leiva gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergio Leiva has just signed for 12 de Junio, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at 12 de Junio
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for 12 de Junio
Position 14 and 27 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
César Villagra 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Orlín Barreto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Wages eat 130% of everything 12 de Junio earn
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.
Market8 Nov 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at 12 de Junio, another week without a signature from Klisman Cabrera.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at 12 de Junio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Callejas, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Something was said to Victor Portillo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
The knee: Alan López out for 15 days
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. 12 de Junio lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market27 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 12 de Junio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Valentín Fiezzi 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at 12 de Junio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Orlín Barreto 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Villagra, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Junior Rangel 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 Junior Rangel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.