Marked for Mateo Ortale
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Sep 2028
4 matches without a win for Maipú
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Maipú are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Match9 Sep 2028
Nobody wins at Maipú
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Marcelo Eggel 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateo Ortale, and the manager let it.
Match9 Sep 2028
No time for Almagro to settle
The goal that put Almagro ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Maipú equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
Wages eat 87% of everything Maipú 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.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
The afternoon belonged to Alan Ortiz
A mark of 7.12, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Aug 2028
Only the photograph left for Víctor Barrera
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Víctor Barrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market28 Aug 2028
Mauro Chacón 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Match26 Aug 2028
Still nobody has beaten Maipú
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match26 Aug 2028
Maipú make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Marcelo Eggel 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 ratings28 Aug 2028
A defender's afternoon for Mateo Ortale
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Aug 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Mateo Ortale asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jul 2028
There were 9 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.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
A brace, and Felipe Rivarola takes the afternoon — 8.07
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Felipe Rivarola provided it, and the 8.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market31 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Tomás Silva
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Silva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Marcelo Eggel 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.
Squad31 Jul 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.
Match29 Jul 2028
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Unión de Santa Fe tried to reorganise, Maipú did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Match29 Jul 2028
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ricardo Ramírez
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Maipú lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market10 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Felipe Rivarola will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match8 Jul 2028
7 matches without a win for Maipú
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Maipú are no longer polite ones.
Market10 Jul 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 Maipú, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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 Jul 2028
Mateo Ortale 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.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match8 Jul 2028
It needed Felipe Rivarola to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Atlanta, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jul 2028
Mateo Ortale 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 Maipú can pretend not to have heard.
Match1 Jul 2028
6 matches without a win for Maipú
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Maipú are no longer polite ones.
Market3 Jul 2028
Tigres come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Maipú did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Tomás Silva
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Silva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Maipú the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Fernández and Maipú agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Maipú
Felipe Rivarola 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.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 Jul 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Maipú will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Viguet 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
Steady
Market22 May 2028
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
Tempers go at Maipú
Felipe Rivarola 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Viguet 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.
Match20 May 2028
A 1‑0 win over All Boys, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 May 2028
A performance of 8.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad22 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Juan Cruz Arno
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
Mateo Ortale asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market22 May 2028
The name of Marcelo Eggel keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Maipú say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Apr 2028
Maipú taken apart
0‑3 to Unión de Santa Fe, 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.
Market3 Apr 2028
“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.
The terraces3 Apr 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 35 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Eggel 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateo Ortale, and the manager let it.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Inquest at Maipú
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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Wages eat 88% of everything Maipú 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
$4.2M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Martín Taborda damages knee ligaments — 74 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Maipú can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces17 Jan 2028
Maipú sell a favourite for $4.2M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Nahuel Galardi was one of the reasons people came, and $4.2M does not replace that by itself.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Marcelo Eggel 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Marcelo Eggel 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Juan Cruz Arno
“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
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Fausto Montero damages knee ligaments — 132 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Maipú
Felipe Rivarola 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Maipú training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Viguet 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
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Enzo Pérez 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 Maipú this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Marcelo Eggel 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Alan Ortiz
“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
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Maipú
Matías Viguet 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Enzo Pérez 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“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.