“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Universidad de Concepcion have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pablo Parra and Universidad de Concepcion agree another 2 years.
Agustín Urzi 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.61 — 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.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Universidad de Concepcion has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mitchell Wassenne and Universidad de Concepcion agree another 4 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universidad de Concepcion can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universidad de Concepcion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universidad de Concepcion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tiago Franco will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Universidad de Concepcion the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.86 — 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.
“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 Universidad de Concepcion, and it is not being withdrawn.
6 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Universidad de Concepcion is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Máximo Capo and Universidad de Concepcion agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Arturo Davila is a Universidad de Concepcion player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The shirt still fits. Benjamin Valencia is back at Universidad de Concepcion, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Claudio Maripan is back at Universidad de Concepcion, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Daniel Davila is a Universidad de Concepcion player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Universidad de Concepcion are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Universidad de Concepcion is running low.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Universidad de Concepcion have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Universidad de Concepcion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ignacio Arguello and Universidad de Concepcion agree another 3 years.
8 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.
Yerco Oyanedel 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Máximo Capo and Universidad de Concepcion agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Universidad de Concepcion will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Concepcion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Valentino Ahumada is 19, and Universidad de Concepcion have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.