Marked for Sebastián Ramírez
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
Abdullah Al-Muaiouf and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thiago Ennes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Lusitano Évora
18 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Diogo Dias'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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Diogo Dias has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Diogo Dias has written the date down.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Lusitano Évora would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout8 Feb 2027
João Fernandes: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lusitano Évora have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Diogo Clemente 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sebastián Ramírez has just signed for Lusitano Évora, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdullah Al-Muaiouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Lusitano Évora asked and Mafra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ian Luccas has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Lusitano Évora know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market8 Feb 2027
He is 19, and nobody at Lusitano Évora signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diogo Clara, and the manager let it.
Market8 Feb 2027
Experience through the door at Lusitano Évora
Michał Bedronka arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Lara and Tigres agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Tigres
Nicolás Lara 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Tigres
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omar Preciado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
Nobody at Tigres has picked up the phone to Nicolás Lara
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Tigres
14 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Camilo Mena 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.