Marked for Timoteo Chamorro
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Godoy Cruz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad22 May 2028
Facundo Altamira 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.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 May 2028
“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.
The dugout22 May 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout22 May 2028
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 Timoteo Chamorro is on it.
The dugout22 May 2028
Misael Sosa 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 Godoy Cruz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market22 May 2028
The Lucas Arce talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Godoy Cruz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Loan watch22 May 2028
The goals keep arriving from Oscar Gonzalez’s exile
5 goals in 11 games at Carabobo — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Godoy Cruz updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Bruno Navarro
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Godoy Cruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Godoy Cruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Facundo Altamira 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.
Loan watch15 May 2028
17 appearances at Deportivo Tachira and the goals keep coming. Godoy Cruz are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Match13 May 2028
Godoy Cruz rescue it on 86 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Atlético Tucumán had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Squad15 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Martín Albarracín and Godoy Cruz agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout15 May 2028
“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.
Match13 May 2028
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
Match19 Apr 2028
Morón are out and Godoy Cruz go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match22 Apr 2028
5‑1, and Sebastián Driussi took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Godoy Cruz tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
Match19 Apr 2028
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Matías Moravec decided nobody was going anywhere. Morón had no time left to answer.
Squad24 Apr 2028
The match ball belongs to Sebastián Driussi, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Sebastián Driussi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Facundo Altamira 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
Squad17 Jan 2028
Sebastián Driussi 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The shirt still fits. Lucio Cruceño is back at Godoy Cruz, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Lucio Cruceño gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lucio Cruceño has just signed for Godoy Cruz, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Godoy Cruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Arce 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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad17 Jan 2028
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Godoy Cruz will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market17 Jan 2028
The Lucas Arce story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Arce signs something — a contract at Godoy Cruz or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
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 dugout17 Jan 2028
Tomás Pozzo 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 Tomás Pozzo has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Misael Zalazar
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Talleres lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Talleres can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Talleres may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Timoteo Chamorro has agreed terms with Banfield for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talleres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Talleres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Barticciotto 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.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Diego Valoyes has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Talleres will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Matías Galarza 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 Talleres, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market13 Dec 2027
The name of Matías Galarza keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Talleres say nothing, which says plenty.