Marked for Gonzalo Requena
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces6 Nov 2028
Anger at Instituto spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Diego Suárez out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Instituto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.94 for the rest of it.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Iván Erquiaga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Match4 Nov 2028
The wait goes on for Instituto
4 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.
Squad6 Nov 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 Instituto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Gonzalo Requena
“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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Instituto told Giuliano Cerato something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Pressure builds in the Instituto boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Diego Suárez out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Instituto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match28 Oct 2028
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
David Veliz 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 dugout30 Oct 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.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
A promise honoured at Instituto
Something was said to Gonzalo Requena and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Ricardo Solbes 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 dugout30 Oct 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gonzalo Requena trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Oct 2028
Nowhere to hide for Instituto
0‑3 against Talleres, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market23 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Instituto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Gonzalo Requena 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 dugout23 Oct 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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ricardo Solbes 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 dugout23 Oct 2028
Gonzalo Requena 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.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by José Luis Ramírez to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
Lautaro Maldonado has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Instituto 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
Crisis
Market9 Oct 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 Instituto can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Iván Erquiaga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Oct 2028
David Veliz 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 dugout9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Vázquez, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Instituto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Solbes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Marked 7.49 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Instituto had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” José Luis Ramírez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Instituto dressing room was either.
Match7 Oct 2028
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Deportivo Riestra came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hernán de la Fuente trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Instituto
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Instituto is running low.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Instituto can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Ricardo Solbes 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Matías Tissera named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Matías Tissera is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maximiliano Ribero, and the manager let it.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
Fernando Alarcón loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Fernando Alarcón's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Squad2 Oct 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nicolás Guerra has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
Gustavo Abregú 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
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Iván Erquiaga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ricardo Solbes 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 dugout11 Sep 2028
Gonzalo Requena 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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Matías Tissera’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Instituto needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market11 Sep 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Leonardo Monje may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
Next up on the road: Newell's Old Boys, position 14. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Sep 2028
The wait goes on for Instituto
7 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Instituto
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market4 Sep 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Instituto heard it as anything else.
Squad4 Sep 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 Instituto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adrián Fernández and Instituto agree another 2 years.
Match2 Sep 2028
San Lorenzo left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
Gonzalo Requena 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.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 José Luis Ramírez left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Instituto
5 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
David Veliz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Aug 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Instituto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Solbes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 José Luis Ramírez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad21 Aug 2028
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Instituto will feel it on Saturday.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Gustavo Abregú'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.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
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 Nicolás Guerra is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout14 Aug 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.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Iván Erquiaga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Match12 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Instituto's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Instituto has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Maldonado, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Ignacio Rossi 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.
Looking ahead14 Aug 2028
A test against the best for Instituto
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Boca Juniors.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout7 Aug 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.
Market7 Aug 2028
The deal that would have taken Valerio Olivera to Patronato has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Instituto with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Match5 Aug 2028
2‑3 to Gimnasia y Esgrima, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Aug 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 Instituto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Instituto asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Aug 2028
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Instituto who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market7 Aug 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.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jul 2028
20 days out for Adrián Fernández after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Instituto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market31 Jul 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Matías Fonseca reports back to Instituto with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market31 Jul 2028
Nicolás Guerra has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Instituto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Gabriel Vázquez 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iván Erquiaga, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Marked 7.35. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Lautaro Maldonado has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Instituto 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Instituto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Rossi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Instituto have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad24 Jul 2028
27 days out for Adrián Fernández after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Instituto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market24 Jul 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 Instituto can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Instituto until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fluminense have kept their man, and Instituto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
The clock did what Atlético Tucumán would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
The terraces24 Jul 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabriel Vázquez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jun 2028
57 days out for Adrián Fernández after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Instituto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market26 Jun 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Lanús; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Instituto asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market26 Jun 2028
Gimnasia y Tiro are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Instituto will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Jonás Acevedo 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 Jonás Acevedo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Instituto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Solbes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Leonardo Monje has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Instituto 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
Steady
Squad5 Jun 2028
82 days out for Adrián Fernández after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Instituto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Jun 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Nicolás Guerra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Guerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Instituto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout5 Jun 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.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Instituto have done the hard part with River Plate, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lautaro Maldonado and Instituto agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Gonzalo Requena 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 targets5 Jun 2028
Instituto asked and Vélez said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 May 2028
A fracture rules Adrián Fernández out for 90 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Instituto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market29 May 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 Instituto, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout29 May 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Instituto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market29 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valerio Olivera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Instituto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 May 2028
Fernando Alarcón 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 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Instituto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad29 May 2028
Ignacio Rossi 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 dugout29 May 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 dugout29 May 2028
Gustavo Abregú 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
Upbeat
Match6 May 2028
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Instituto scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings8 May 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.04, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market8 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Instituto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fernando Alarcón and Instituto agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Match6 May 2028
A 3‑2 win over Talleres, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout8 May 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.
The dugout8 May 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” José Luis Ramírez on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout8 May 2028
Jonás Acevedo 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
Steady
Match25 Apr 2028
Instituto through in the cup
A 2‑0 win over Fénix, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
The dugout1 May 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Instituto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Marked 7.61 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market1 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Instituto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 May 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Loan watch1 May 2028
“I did not go to Argentino de Quilmes to sit and watch. I want to come back to Instituto and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
The terraces1 May 2028
He is 21 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 dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Matías Tissera
“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
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Fernando Alarcón
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Instituto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Iván Erquiaga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Manuel Crespo, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Matías Gallardo and Instituto agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Instituto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Solbes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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 Jeremías Lázaro is on it.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Gustavo Abregú'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.
Market24 Apr 2028
Instituto have made Giuliano Cerato available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Apr 2028
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Instituto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout17 Apr 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.
Market17 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Instituto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 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 Instituto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Jonás Acevedo
“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.
Match15 Apr 2028
0‑1 to Independiente, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Apr 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gonzalo Requena trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Instituto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Rossi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Fernando Alarcón
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Instituto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market10 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Nicolás Guerra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Guerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Instituto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Fernando Alarcón 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Newell's Old Boys left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Market10 Apr 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lautaro Maldonado has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Instituto.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Instituto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 Apr 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Instituto, another week without a signature from Jeremías Lázaro.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Up for the corner, and Juan Ignacio Méndez delivers — 7.97
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Juan Ignacio Méndez scored, was marked 7.97, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market3 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Instituto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Juan Manuel Crespo 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.
Market3 Apr 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hernán de la Fuente has his answer from Instituto; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match1 Apr 2028
A 1‑0 win over San Lorenzo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market3 Apr 2028
“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 dugout3 Apr 2028
A promise honoured at Instituto
Something was said to Matías Fonseca and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Wílder Viera 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 dugout3 Apr 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” José Luis Ramírez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Mar 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Massaccesi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Instituto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Mar 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 Instituto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Mar 2028
Instituto hit back inside 3 minutes
Unión de Santa Fe held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Instituto answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout20 Mar 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Instituto are still strangers to each other
10 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Rossi 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” José Luis Ramírez was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Instituto dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 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 Instituto can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Instituto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Augusto Coronel is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Loan watch6 Mar 2028
“I did not go to Argentino de Quilmes to sit and watch. I want to come back to Instituto and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Squad6 Mar 2028
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Emanuel Bilbao and Instituto agree another 2 years.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Jonathan Galván
“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.
Match4 Mar 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Defensa y Justicia leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
When it matters, Leonardo Monje plays
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The dugout
Gustavo Abregú is still being punished for one mistake
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
14 days out for Matías Tissera after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Instituto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match26 Feb 2028
Jonás Acevedo wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Jonás Acevedo found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Gimnasia y Esgrima went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Iván Erquiaga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Jonás Acevedo scored one and made one — 7.97
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.97, and 2 involvements.
Match26 Feb 2028
A 2‑1 win over Gimnasia y Esgrima, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Fonseca, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” José Luis Ramírez, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Matías Tissera out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Instituto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Feb 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.
Market21 Feb 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Massaccesi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Instituto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match19 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Instituto's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Instituto has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Fernando Alarcón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adrián Fernández, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Matías Tissera out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Instituto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Feb 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 Instituto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Instituto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Instituto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market14 Feb 2028
Instituto say no — this time
The offer from Tigre for Patricio Albornoz was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Agustín Massaccesi has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matías Fonseca and Instituto agree another 3 years.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Maximiliano Ribero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“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
Squad31 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Matías Tissera out for 46 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Instituto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 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 Instituto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Instituto people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Iván Erquiaga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Instituto have done the hard part with Olimpia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market31 Jan 2028
The paperwork is done: Juan Manuel Crespo joins from Talleres in a deal worth $530.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Jan 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.
Loan watch31 Jan 2028
“I watch every Instituto game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Independiente runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Instituto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market17 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Nicolás Guerra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Guerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Instituto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Gonzalo Requena 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
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Rossi 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
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 dugout17 Jan 2028
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 Nicolás Guerra is on it.
Market17 Jan 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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Nicolás Watson 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 Nicolás Watson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
No thanks: Kevin Zenón rejects the move
Instituto had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Boca Juniors, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market10 Jan 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market10 Jan 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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Instituto have done the hard part with Cruzeiro, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Instituto have gone to Newell's Old Boys with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Instituto
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Instituto asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Wílder Viera and Instituto agree another 3 years.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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
Crisis
Squad27 Dec 2027
Gonzalo Martínez damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Loan watch27 Dec 2027
34 appearances at Morón and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market27 Dec 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.
Market27 Dec 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tigre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Gastón Pérez has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Tigre
Gonzalo Requena 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Federico Álvarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tigre is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
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.
Market27 Dec 2027
Add another name to the list: Union Magdalena have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ignacio Letizia. The answer from Tigre has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gonzalo Martínez
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tigre lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Godoy Cruz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tigre is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market13 Dec 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.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ignacio Peluffo has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Tigre
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Morón have kept their man, and Tigre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Duvan Moreno 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
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 dugout13 Dec 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 Tigre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
Gonzalo Martínez damages knee ligaments — 81 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
34 appearances at Morón and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Santino González has agreed terms with Sacachispas for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Quimey Zarza is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Federico Álvarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tigre is pretending otherwise.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
30 appearances at Platense and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Alan Luongo 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 Tigre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
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 dugout29 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 Tigre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gonzalo Martínez
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tigre lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match22 Nov 2027
Tigre are in real trouble now
Position 14, 11 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.
Loan watch22 Nov 2027
36 appearances at Londrina and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Santino Galesio is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad22 Nov 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 Tigre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch22 Nov 2027
14 clean sheets on loan for Luka Fuster
29 appearances at Água Santa and the goals have stopped going in. Tigre lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Duvan Moreno 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
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 Felipe Zenobio is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
The knee: Franco Jara out for 48 days
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Instituto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Alex Luna has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Instituto is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Instituto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Sanseviero 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 dugout15 Nov 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Instituto told Giuliano Cerato something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Gustavo Abregú'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.
Market15 Nov 2027
“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.
Market15 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Hernán de la Fuente may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Alex Luna makes the division’s eleven — 6.89
Marked 6.89, and picked in the team of the week for it. He was the best player on that pitch and the selectors saw the same match everybody else did.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
Gonzalo Martínez damages knee ligaments — 98 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 98 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Tigre
Gonzalo Requena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Tigre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Duvan Moreno 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tigre told Duvan Moreno something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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 Sebastián Medina is on it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jean Sinisterra, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Gaspar Duarte 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 Tigre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Nov 2027
The name of Felipe Zenobio keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tigre say nothing, which says plenty.
Market15 Nov 2027
The shop window has Martín Garay in it
Tigre have let the market know Martín Garay can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tigre lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match6 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Tigre's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tigre has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Tigre
Gonzalo Requena 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tigre told Simón Rivero something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
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.
Match6 Nov 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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Felipe Zenobio 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 Tigre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gonzalo Martínez
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tigre lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
The goals keep arriving from Juan Cruz Esquivel’s exile
28 goals in 34 games at Morón — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Tigre updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Match30 Oct 2027
The wait goes on for Tigre
7 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.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
The goals keep arriving from Camilo Viganoni’s exile
20 goals in 34 games at Londrina — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Tigre updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Federico Álvarez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tigre is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Tigre
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Tigre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Duvan Moreno 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.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
13 shut-outs in 27 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Luka Fuster has been having a lot of them.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
28 appearances at Platense and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
The knee: Ramón Arias out for 115 days
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tigre lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Tigre
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Duvan Moreno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
The goals keep arriving from Mauro Méndez’s exile
10 goals in 25 games at Platense — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Tigre updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Tigre
Alan Luongo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Quimey Zarza 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Santiago González signs something — a contract at Tigre or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
26 appearances at Colón and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 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 Tigre, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tigre may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Loan watch5 Jul 2027
21 appearances at Morón and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Loan watch5 Jul 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Tigre, and 3 appearances in 28 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simón Rivero, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Tigre
Ramón Arias and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch5 Jul 2027
15 appearances at Londrina and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Tigre academy
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Gonzalo Requena 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
Steady
Market28 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Gonzalo Requena has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Tigre
Gaspar Duarte 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 dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Guillermo Soto
“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.
Loan watch28 Jun 2027
14 appearances at Londrina and the goals keep coming. Tigre are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Felipe Zenobio has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tigre 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Jun 2027
The name of Felipe Zenobio keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tigre say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
19 appearances away from home and 15 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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 Guillermo Soto is on it.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
The goals keep arriving from Camilo Viganoni’s exile
7 goals in 12 games at Londrina — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Tigre updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market21 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Santiago González signs something — a contract at Tigre or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
15 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Jun 2027
The season ends here for Tigre
Newell's Old Boys go through. The table said this team was good enough for months and the format does not care what the table said, which is the argument every eliminated club has had with itself since playoffs were invented.
Market7 Jun 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 Tigre can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The paperwork begins on Jorge Perez
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tigre have done the hard part with La Equidad, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
17 appearances away from home and 14 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market7 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tigre, another week without a signature from Santiago González.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolás Rodríguez and Tigre agree another 3 years.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Pablo Vega left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Duvan Moreno is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Duvan Moreno has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Alfio Oviedo
“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
Upbeat
Match15 May 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Duvan Moreno’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tigre.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Tigre
Ramón Arias 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 dugout17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Duvan Moreno
“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 ratings17 May 2027
Marked 7.78 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Tigre had the best player on the pitch.
Loan watch17 May 2027
“I watch every Tigre game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at São José runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout17 May 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Pablo Vega could afford to be generous.
The dugout17 May 2027
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 Guillermo Soto is on it.
Looking ahead17 May 2027
A test against the best for Tigre
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against River Plate.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Tigre
Gaspar Duarte 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.
Match8 May 2027
1‑2 to Barracas Central, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market10 May 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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“I did not go to Londrina to sit and watch. I want to come back to Tigre and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout10 May 2027
Ramón Arias 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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
13 appearances away from home and 9 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout10 May 2027
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 dugout10 May 2027
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 Sebastián Medina is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Apr 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tigre and Banfield in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.36 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Braian Cufré
“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.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I watch every Tigre game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Londrina runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Alan Barrionuevo 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.
The terraces19 Apr 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Felipe Zenobio
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tigre lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market22 Feb 2027
Alan Sosa 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 Tigre, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Tigre
Gonzalo Requena 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.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Tigre, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Guillermo Soto has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tigre 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tigre know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Tigre. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Alfio Oviedo 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 Feb 2027
Tigre have made Jean Sinisterra available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ignacio Ordóñez damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Tigre get their man
The chase for Gaspar Duarte ended with $3.8M changing hands and Rosario Central out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Tigre asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Tigre
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Braian Cufré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 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 Tigre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Braian Cufré 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 Braian Cufré is on it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A pay cut and a fresh start for Gaspar Duarte
Not every move is upward. Gaspar Duarte has accepted terms at Tigre that are worse than the ones he left, and the only question that matters now is whether the football makes up for it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Ramón Arias 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 Tigre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Alvarado waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tigre is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“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.
Market28 Dec 2026
Tigre say no — this time
The offer from São José for Tomás Fernández was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Tigre
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Zenobio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Tigre
Ramón Arias 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 targets28 Dec 2026
A loan enquiry to Genoa: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout28 Dec 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Braian Cufré has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tigre 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.