The Fortaleza Sentinel
Squad19 Oct 2026
João Ricardo keeps Fortaleza in it on his own
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Gabriel Fuentes 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 Fortaleza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Fortaleza
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Nobody could get near Tomás Pochettino
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
One of those days for Luiz Fernando
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.95, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match17 Oct 2026
Fortaleza get the job done against Flamengo
A 1‑0 win over Flamengo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A masterclass from Tomás Cardona
Marked 8.04 — 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A defender's afternoon for Matheus Rossetto
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Kayke
“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.
In brief
- Squad Emanuel Brítez knocks on the manager’s door
- Boardroom Fortaleza were not finished after all
- The terraces The press cannot get enough of João Ricardo