Marked for César Ramírez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Sep 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nacional they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Sebastián Vargas 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Nacional
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Meza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I did not go to General Caballero JLM to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nacional and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 40 matches say the rest.
The dugout27 Sep 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Líder Cáceres'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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 2027
Elías Villar has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nacional they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Nacional
Diego 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.
The dugout23 Aug 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 dugout23 Aug 2027
Leandro Meza 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 Nacional, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market23 Aug 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nacional know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The training reports on César Ramírez are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Guarani
Derlis Gonzalez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match10 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jhon Jairo Sánchez. 2‑0 against Libertad, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Looking ahead12 Apr 2027
The big one: Cerro Porteno come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Guarani will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Marked 8.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
Alex Sosa wants to come home
“I did not go to Tacuary to sit and watch. I want to come back to Guarani and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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.” Gustavo Acosta, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout12 Apr 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of César Ramírez
“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 watch12 Apr 2027
9 appearances at Rubio Nu and the goals keep coming. Guarani are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Guarani is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Brian Calderara 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Guarani
Aldo Pérez 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 watch29 Mar 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 Guarani, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Carlos Arrúa
“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 dugout29 Mar 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 Fernando Fernández is on it.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Belts tighten at Guarani
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
2 de Mayo next, and one man in the Guarani dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
7 appearances at Rubio Nu and the goals keep coming. Guarani are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Leandro Allende 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Guarani
Aldo Pérez 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
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 Milciades Adorno is on it.