Marked for Jorge Sánchez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jul 2036
Emiliano Gil breaks a bone — 41 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Jul 2036
“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 The request is on a desk at Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Jul 2036
5 matches without a win for Huachipato
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Huachipato are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings14 Jul 2036
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2036
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Huachipato have done the hard part with Audax Italiano, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market14 Jul 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Huachipato is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market14 Jul 2036
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Huachipato will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colo-Colo have kept their man, and Huachipato go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Jul 2036
Emiliano Gil 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 Huachipato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jul 2036
Emiliano Gil breaks a bone — 48 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Jul 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Deportes Temuco waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Huachipato is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad7 Jul 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2036
The clubs have shaken hands with Audax Italiano; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market7 Jul 2036
Jean Osorio hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huachipato can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Jul 2036
4 matches without a win for Huachipato
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Huachipato are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Jul 2036
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jorge Sánchez and Huachipato agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2036
Huachipato asked and Ñublense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market7 Jul 2036
Add another name to the list: Iquique have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Cristian Aranguiz. The answer from Huachipato has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Jun 2036
55 days out for Emiliano Gil after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market30 Jun 2036
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market30 Jun 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and San Luis waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Huachipato is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2036
Huachipato and Universidad Catolica have settled on $73.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market30 Jun 2036
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match28 Jun 2036
No clean sheets in sight for Huachipato
6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market30 Jun 2036
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Meneses will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huachipato the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match28 Jun 2036
3 matches without a goal for Huachipato
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colo-Colo have kept their man, and Huachipato go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Jun 2036
62 days out for Emiliano Gil after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market23 Jun 2036
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Jun 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2036
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Huachipato have done the hard part with Audax Italiano, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match21 Jun 2036
Huachipato are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. O'Higgins have kept their man, and Huachipato go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match21 Jun 2036
Deportes Temuco left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market23 Jun 2036
The phone has started ringing about Juan Aranguiz again, and this time the name on the line is San Luis. Huachipato are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout23 Jun 2036
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Jun 2036
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Huachipato have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad16 Jun 2036
A fracture rules Emiliano Gil out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huachipato will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Jun 2036
“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.
Market16 Jun 2036
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2036
Everything agreed with Universidad Catolica, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2036
Huachipato asked and Colo-Colo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match14 Jun 2036
Huachipato are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match14 Jun 2036
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout16 Jun 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Sánchez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Jun 2036
A fracture rules Emiliano Gil out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huachipato will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad9 Jun 2036
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad9 Jun 2036
The match ball belongs to Jackie Muñoz, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market9 Jun 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Deportes Temuco waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Huachipato is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market9 Jun 2036
The phone has started ringing about Jorge Sánchez again, and this time the name on the line is Cobreloa. Huachipato are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market9 Jun 2036
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout9 Jun 2036
Ivan Diaz: 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.” Huachipato have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2036
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Huachipato have done the hard part with Audax Italiano, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2036
Huachipato asked and O'Higgins said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Jun 2036
87 days out for Emiliano Gil after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad2 Jun 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market2 Jun 2036
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match31 May 2036
A 3‑2 win over Ñublense, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Transfer targets2 Jun 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Independiente Medellin have kept their man, and Huachipato go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market2 Jun 2036
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Huachipato have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match31 May 2036
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Jackie Muñoz in the middle of it, and Ñublense unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings2 Jun 2036
Marked 8.14 — 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 ratings2 Jun 2036
Gastón Luraschi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 May 2036
A fracture rules Emiliano Gil out for 102 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huachipato will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match17 May 2036
0‑3 to O'Higgins, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad19 May 2036
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match17 May 2036
The wait goes on for Huachipato
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.
The dugout19 May 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Huachipato may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings19 May 2036
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Match17 May 2036
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Market19 May 2036
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jackie Muñoz wants continental football; whether Huachipato can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The dugout19 May 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Sánchez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 May 2036
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market12 May 2036
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 May 2036
No end in sight to Huachipato's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Huachipato has to find a result from somewhere.
Match10 May 2036
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match10 May 2036
Universidad de Chile left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 May 2036
“The easiest signature of my career.” Matias Castillo and Huachipato agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 May 2036
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Marco Reis after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad12 May 2036
Francisco Suazo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Looking ahead12 May 2036
The leaders are next for Huachipato
O'Higgins top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Apr 2036
11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market28 Apr 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Huachipato they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Gastón Luraschi 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.
Squad28 Apr 2036
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gary Diaz and Huachipato agree another 3 years.
The dugout28 Apr 2036
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings28 Apr 2036
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Apr 2036
“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.
Looking ahead28 Apr 2036
Colo-Colo next, and one man in the Huachipato dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Apr 2036
Jackie Muñoz beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout21 Apr 2036
“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 Apr 2036
Gastón Luraschi 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 dugout21 Apr 2036
Half-satisfied: Marco Reis on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad21 Apr 2036
The division's best last weekend was a Huachipato man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Jackie Muñoz was the best thing in any of them.
Market21 Apr 2036
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Tomas Beausejour has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Huachipato.
Squad21 Apr 2036
A Huachipato teenager takes the young player award
Claudio Sagal is 18, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The dugout21 Apr 2036
Juan Suazo 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
Squad24 Mar 2036
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout24 Mar 2036
“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.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Mar 2036
Francisco Suazo 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.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
A costly moment from Juan Suazo
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Huachipato, and it is a cruel one.
Match22 Mar 2036
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout24 Mar 2036
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Marco Reis chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout24 Mar 2036
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Mar 2036
A 1‑0 win over Deportes Santa Cruz, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match15 Mar 2036
0‑3 against Universidad Catolica, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings17 Mar 2036
What a way to start for Francisco Suazo — 7.98
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.98 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Market17 Mar 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huachipato can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
Tomas Meneses: 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.” Huachipato have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 Mar 2036
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jackie Muñoz wants continental football; whether Huachipato can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The terraces17 Mar 2036
At 16 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings17 Mar 2036
Jackie Muñoz beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad17 Mar 2036
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Feb 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market18 Feb 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huachipato can pretend not to have heard.
Match16 Feb 2036
Huachipato keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Match16 Feb 2036
4 matches without defeat, and then Universidad de Concepcion. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad18 Feb 2036
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matias Castillo commits to Huachipato for another 4 years.
Match16 Feb 2036
A goal on 86 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Juan Suazo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings18 Feb 2036
Marked 7.70 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Huachipato had the best player on the pitch.
Match16 Feb 2036
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Feb 2036
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Meneses will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huachipato the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Giovani Chiaverano 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.
Squad4 Feb 2036
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maximiliano Rodríguez and Huachipato agree another 2 years.
The dugout4 Feb 2036
Ismael López 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.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Ismael López moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Huachipato than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Market4 Feb 2036
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jorge Sánchez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom7 Jan 2036
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
Market7 Jan 2036
The unthinkable, invoiced: David Fernández sold
O'Higgins arrived with $970.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market7 Jan 2036
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Huachipato people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market7 Jan 2036
The deal that would have taken Jorge Sánchez to Deportes La Serena has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Huachipato with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The terraces7 Jan 2036
David Fernández has gone, the accounts have $970.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad7 Jan 2036
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Huachipato had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Boardroom7 Jan 2036
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.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Giovani Chiaverano 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 targets7 Jan 2036
An offer of $16.0K for Blas Rolón
Huachipato have gone to Cobreloa 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Dec 2035
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Dec 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Dec 2035
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Huachipato they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Dec 2035
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Daniel Sagal 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.
Squad3 Dec 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” João Vilela and Huachipato agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Dec 2035
Giovani Chiaverano 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 targets3 Dec 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colo-Colo have kept their man, and Huachipato go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Dec 2035
A row about effort at Huachipato
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismael López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Dec 2035
“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.
In brief
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Boardroom
$3.4M on the table at Huachipato
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Carlos Ili is in the works
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The dugout
Felipe Arce is still being punished for one mistake
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match23 Jun 2035
Nobody wants to play Huachipato right now
14 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market25 Jun 2035
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings25 Jun 2035
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match23 Jun 2035
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad25 Jun 2035
A season average of 7.25 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Universidad de Chile have kept their man, and Huachipato go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market25 Jun 2035
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Huachipato have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings25 Jun 2035
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.46, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match26 May 2035
Nobody wants to play Huachipato right now
10 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad28 May 2035
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings28 May 2035
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.27 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match26 May 2035
Huachipato keep winning on the road
5 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad28 May 2035
A season average of 7.27 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings28 May 2035
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Match28 May 2035
Halfway: Huachipato sit in position 1
40 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Squad28 May 2035
Jeremy Valenzuela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
In brief
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Squad
Ismael López falls out with a teammate over standards
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The dugout
A satisfied Marco Reis
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Felipe Arce's mistake
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad7 May 2035
15 days out for Jorge Sánchez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match5 May 2035
Nobody wants to play Huachipato right now
7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings7 May 2035
A brace, and David Fernández takes the afternoon — 9.17
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Fernández provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad7 May 2035
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match5 May 2035
Three points for Huachipato, 3‑1 the final word against Iquique in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 May 2035
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match5 May 2035
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. David Fernández had Huachipato level again within 4 minutes, and Iquique never got to play with a lead at all.
Squad7 May 2035
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Huachipato have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad7 May 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huachipato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad30 Apr 2035
Jorge Sánchez breaks a bone — 25 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match28 Apr 2035
Antofagasta will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Huachipato were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings30 Apr 2035
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.90, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match28 Apr 2035
Nobody wants to play Huachipato right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2035
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings30 Apr 2035
Santino Aguirre ran the middle of the pitch — 7.47
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 15 combined actions and a mark of 7.47, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Player ratings30 Apr 2035
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match28 Apr 2035
Huachipato are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Francisco Cifuentes 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad23 Apr 2035
A fracture rules Jorge Sánchez out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huachipato will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings23 Apr 2035
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match21 Apr 2035
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Huachipato have 5 straight wins of it.
The dugout23 Apr 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Huachipato may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match21 Apr 2035
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Fernández. 2‑0 against Magallanes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings23 Apr 2035
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings23 Apr 2035
Marked 8.18 — 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.
Squad23 Apr 2035
Giovani Chiaverano 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 Apr 2035
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.” Marco Reis, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad16 Apr 2035
43 days out for Jorge Sánchez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match14 Apr 2035
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and San Luis spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Match16 Apr 2035
22 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Match14 Apr 2035
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Huachipato have 4 straight wins of it.
Match14 Apr 2035
Three points for Huachipato, 1‑0 the final word against San Luis in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings16 Apr 2035
Ninety minutes of Emiliano Gil at his very best
Marked 8.40. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Huachipato.
Squad16 Apr 2035
Francisco Cifuentes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Apr 2035
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Marco Reis could afford to be generous.
Squad16 Apr 2035
A row about effort at Huachipato
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovani Chiaverano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad9 Apr 2035
Jorge Sánchez breaks a bone — 51 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings9 Apr 2035
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market9 Apr 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huachipato can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Apr 2035
The medical room confirms 64 days on the sidelines for Danilo Regali, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match7 Apr 2035
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Huachipato have 3 straight wins of it.
Player ratings9 Apr 2035
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Apr 2035
It finished 2‑0, and it was Jackie Muñoz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Huachipato.
Player ratings9 Apr 2035
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Apr 2035
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jorge Pulgar commits to Huachipato for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Apr 2035
59 days out for Jorge Sánchez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market2 Apr 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Huachipato, another week without a signature from Santino Piccinetti.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Huachipato prefer.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Giovani Chiaverano 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.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Emiliano Gil makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Apr 2035
A promise honoured at Huachipato
Something was said to Emiliano Gil and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market2 Apr 2035
Dilan Guzman is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Huachipato has been clear about where Dilan Guzman stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout2 Apr 2035
“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.
Market2 Apr 2035
João Vilela linked with a move away
The name of João Vilela keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Huachipato say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Mar 2035
A fracture rules Jorge Sánchez out for 69 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huachipato will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Mar 2035
Jackie Muñoz takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
The dugout26 Mar 2035
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huachipato have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings26 Mar 2035
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings26 Mar 2035
Jackie Muñoz was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad26 Mar 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huachipato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Mar 2035
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Marco Reis kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout26 Mar 2035
The manager makes an example of Jorge Agüero
“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
Boardroom19 Mar 2035
“This is a club with real history, and I did not have to think about it for long.” The new manager takes charge with every slate wiped clean.
Squad19 Mar 2035
Jorge Sánchez breaks a bone — 76 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match14 Mar 2035
The cup run ends for Huachipato
1‑2 against Deportes Concepción, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings19 Mar 2035
Ignacio Vega could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.37
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.37, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Player ratings19 Mar 2035
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 Mar 2035
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Mar 2035
It finished 2‑0, and it was David Fernández’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Huachipato.
The dugout19 Mar 2035
“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.
Squad19 Mar 2035
Francisco Cifuentes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Mar 2035
Jorge Sánchez breaks a bone — 84 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Mar 2035
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huachipato lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Huachipato may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Mar 2035
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings12 Mar 2035
Emiliano Gil was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
“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.
Squad12 Mar 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huachipato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2035
Leonardo Sinisterra falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Mar 2035
91 days out for Jorge Sánchez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad5 Mar 2035
Gonzalo Montecinos damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Match3 Mar 2035
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Rangers de Talca, and it could have been more.
Squad5 Mar 2035
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings5 Mar 2035
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.91, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings5 Mar 2035
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Mar 2035
Jorge Sánchez slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jorge Sánchez is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market5 Mar 2035
“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 dugout5 Mar 2035
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 4‑1, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2035
A fracture rules Jorge Sánchez out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huachipato will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Feb 2035
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Huachipato lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market26 Feb 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huachipato can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Huachipato may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings26 Feb 2035
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Feb 2035
A row about effort at Huachipato
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovani Chiaverano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Francisco Cifuentes 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 dugout26 Feb 2035
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
“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
Crisis
Squad19 Feb 2035
Jorge Sánchez breaks a bone — 105 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Feb 2035
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huachipato lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout19 Feb 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Huachipato may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Giovani Chiaverano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom19 Feb 2035
Huachipato still without a manager
9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Match17 Feb 2035
0‑2 to Union La Calera, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings19 Feb 2035
Jackie Muñoz beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Feb 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jeremy Valenzuela and Huachipato agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout19 Feb 2035
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom12 Feb 2035
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
Squad12 Feb 2035
Jorge Sánchez breaks a bone — 112 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Feb 2035
Gonzalo Montecinos damages knee ligaments — 48 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Match10 Feb 2035
Deportes Santa Cruz will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Huachipato were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Boardroom12 Feb 2035
A stranger takes charge at Huachipato
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
Player ratings12 Feb 2035
A brace, and David Fernández takes the afternoon — 9.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Fernández provided it, and the 9.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom12 Feb 2035
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
The dugout12 Feb 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Huachipato may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings12 Feb 2035
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.11, and nobody on the pitch better.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Feb 2035
The knee: João Vilela out for 18 days
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huachipato lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Feb 2035
119 days out for Jorge Sánchez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Huachipato will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Feb 2035
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Huachipato they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Giovani Chiaverano 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.
Market5 Feb 2035
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Jeremy Valenzuela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Feb 2035
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 David Fernández is on it.
The dugout5 Feb 2035
“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 dugout5 Feb 2035
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2034
Words at Huachipato training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovani Chiaverano 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.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Gastón Luraschi 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 dugout20 Nov 2034
Jorge Sánchez 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 Jorge Sánchez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Nov 2034
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 dugout20 Nov 2034
“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.
Market20 Nov 2034
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Huachipato know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Nov 2034
“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 Huachipato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market13 Nov 2034
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Meneses will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huachipato the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Nov 2034
A row about effort at Huachipato
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovani Chiaverano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad13 Nov 2034
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad13 Nov 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huachipato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout13 Nov 2034
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 Nov 2034
Jorge Sánchez 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 Jorge Sánchez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout13 Nov 2034
The manager makes an example of Claudio Aravena
“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.
Squad13 Nov 2034
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Huachipato that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.