Iván Vera

Central Midfielder - Tristán Suárez
2 Jan 2036
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Iván Vera

478 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

24 Sep 2035
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A day Maximiliano Villalba will not forget

5 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Noah Romano

48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tristán Suárez lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Maximiliano Villalba leads the rout of Los Andes

7‑1, and Maximiliano Villalba took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Tristán Suárez tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Market

Gabriel Iglesias puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Gabriel Silva, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.12

A mark of 8.12 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Maximiliano Villalba

21 goals and a season average of 7.22 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Maximiliano Villalba was on a different afternoon to everybody else

10.00. 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.

Match

8 goals as Tristán Suárez and Los Andes go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Tristán Suárez and Los Andes, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Gabriel Silva is the real thing at 21

A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Tristán Suárez know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

In brief

Back issues
476 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

10 Sep 2035
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Noah Romano damages knee ligaments — 62 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.

Match

Tristán Suárez run riot against Colegiales

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

A brace, and Matías Salgado takes the afternoon — 8.29

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matías Salgado provided it, and the 8.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Federico Villalba

At 21 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.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Iglesias 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.

Squad

Iván Costa gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Leonardo Di María 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.

Player ratings

Maximiliano Villalba changes it off the bench

He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Tristán Suárez had a different afternoon.

Market

Iván Costa placed on the list

Tristán Suárez have made Iván Costa available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

474 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

27 Aug 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Noah Romano damages knee ligaments — 76 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 76 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.

Market

Andrés Vega puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Gabriel Silva runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Iván Vera 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.

Match

Tristán Suárez come up short against Racing

Racing left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matías Salgado

Marked 8.03 — 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.

Squad

Andrés Vega 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.

Squad

When it matters, Agustín Gallo plays

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.

Market

Iván Costa runs his contract down

5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Tristán Suárez money.

In brief

469 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

23 Jul 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Noah Romano damages knee ligaments — 111 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Agustín Gallo yet — 8.62

At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.62 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Hernán Moreno 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Boardroom

146% of the income goes out in wages at Tristán Suárez

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Match

Agustín Gallo the difference as Tristán Suárez beat Aldosivi

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agustín Gallo. 2‑0 against Aldosivi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Gabriel Silva runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Iván Vera

Marked 8.29 — 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.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.34 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Jean Carlos Garcés 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

468 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

16 Jul 2035
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Noah Romano damages knee ligaments — 118 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 118 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Matías Salgado

Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Gabriel Iglesias puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tristán Suárez count the cost of losing Alejandro Molina

14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Market

Eyes on Maximiliano Villalba again

The phone has started ringing about Maximiliano Villalba again, and this time the name on the line is Güemes. Tristán Suárez are listening politely and promising nothing.

Match

The wait goes on for Tristán Suárez

4 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Iván Vera

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Andrés Vega 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Federico Villalba 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.

In brief

467 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

9 Jul 2035
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Noah Romano damages knee ligaments — 125 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 125 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.

Match

A hiding for Tristán Suárez

Beaten 0‑3 by Deportivo Riestra, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Federico Villalba 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Matías Salgado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Iván Vera 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Vega 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.

Squad

Andrés Vega gets it from the manager

“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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Tristán Suárez

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Market

Talks stall between Tristán Suárez and Iván Costa

“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.

In brief

466 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

2 Jul 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Andrés Vega puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Iván Vera runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Iván Costa

“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.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Valentino Felicetti

7.62, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Tristán Suárez had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Jean Carlos Garcés 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.

Boardroom

Tristán Suárez sign 4 boys into the academy

None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.

Squad

Andrés Vega named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Andrés Vega is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Martínez 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.

Match

No goals between Tristán Suárez and Gimnasia y Tiro

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Gimnasia y Tiro will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

464 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

18 Jun 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Gabriel Iglesias puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Valentino Felicetti sends Tristán Suárez past Güemes

It finished 3‑1, and it was Valentino Felicetti’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tristán Suárez.

Player ratings

One of those days for Valentino Felicetti

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.55, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Matías Salgado in the eights

A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Iván Vera

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Andrés Vega 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.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.30 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Jean Carlos Garcés 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Hernán Moreno

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hernán Moreno, and the manager let it.

In brief

461 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

28 May 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Leonardo Di María asks to leave Tristán Suárez

“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 ratings

Age has not caught Agustín Gallo yet — 8.10

At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Match

Tristán Suárez see off Los Andes

Three points for Tristán Suárez, 2‑1 the final word against Los Andes in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gabriel Silva

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

138% of the income goes out in wages at Tristán Suárez

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Player ratings

Iván Vera in the eights

A performance of 8.37 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Valentino Felicetti at his very best

Marked 8.13. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tristán Suárez.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Vega 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.

Squad

Federico Villalba 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

460 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

21 May 2035
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Gabriel Iglesias asks to leave Tristán Suárez

“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.

Match

The wait goes on for Tristán Suárez

4 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Iván Vera 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Tristán Suárez against Almagro

1‑2 to Almagro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Andrés Vega

“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.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.23 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

In brief

459 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

14 May 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Both of them Valentino Felicetti's — 8.57

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.57, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Gael López 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ignacio Bednarek

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gabriel Silva

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Vega 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.

Match

Tristán Suárez share the spoils with Colegiales

A 2‑2 draw with Colegiales leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Squad

Jean Carlos Garcés 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Tristán Suárez 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.

Market

Talks stall between Tristán Suárez and Martín Romano

“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.

In brief

458 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

7 May 2035
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Andrés Vega asks to leave Tristán Suárez

“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.

Squad

Agustín Gallo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Agustín Gallo and Tristán Suárez agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Gabriel Iglesias 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Tristán Suárez against Estudiantes

0‑2 to Estudiantes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Andrés Vega 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.

Squad

A month that belonged to Gabriel Silva

The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Tristán Suárez who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.

In brief

453 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

2 Apr 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A brace, and Maximiliano Villalba takes the afternoon — 8.91

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maximiliano Villalba provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Gabriel Silva puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Iván Vera 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Tristán Suárez see off Chacarita Juniors

Three points for Tristán Suárez, 2‑1 the final word against Chacarita Juniors in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Valentino Felicetti in the eights

A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Vega 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.

Player ratings

Gabriel Silva runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Martín Romano

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martín Romano, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 103% of everything Tristán Suárez earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

In brief

447 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

19 Feb 2035
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Agustín Gallo

23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tristán Suárez lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Both of them Maximiliano Villalba's — 8.80

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.80, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Gabriel Silva, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99

A mark of 7.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market

Millonario puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Tristán Suárez get the job done against Güemes

A 3‑1 win over Güemes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Gabriel Silva

At 20 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 ratings

Iván Vera was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.09. 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.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Vega 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.

Squad

Federico Villalba 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

446 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

12 Feb 2035
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Agustín Gallo

30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tristán Suárez lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Tristán Suárez win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 96th minute. Arsenal will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Squad

A fracture rules Benicio Alonso out for 20 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tristán Suárez will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Leonardo Di María 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Iván Vera 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.

Match

Tristán Suárez see off Arsenal

Three points for Tristán Suárez, 1‑0 the final word against Arsenal in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Iván Vera at his very best

Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tristán Suárez.

Squad

Andrés Vega 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.

Player ratings

Valentino Felicetti runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

439 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

25 Dec 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Benicio Alonso breaks a bone — 69 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Defensores Unidos come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Tristán Suárez did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Gael López puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

In brief

432 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

6 Nov 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Federico Villalba keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tristán Suárez may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Millonario 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Alejandro Molina signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alejandro Molina and Tristán Suárez agree another 2 years.

Squad

Iván Vera 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

$1.6M on the table at Tristán Suárez

The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.

Squad

Maximiliano Villalba 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 Maximiliano Villalba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

426 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

25 Sep 2034
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Matías Salgado takes the afternoon — 8.20

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matías Salgado provided it, and the 8.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Gael López 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Matías Salgado sends Tristán Suárez past Aldosivi

It finished 2‑0, and it was Matías Salgado’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tristán Suárez.

Squad

Federico Villalba 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Tristán Suárez 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.

Squad

Gabriel Iglesias 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 Gabriel Iglesias trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Jean Carlos Garcés left out for tactical reasons at Tristán Suárez

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

Boardroom

The Tristán Suárez production line keeps running

57 graduates out of an academy now rated 4 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.

Player ratings

Iván Vera runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 5. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

425 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

18 Sep 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Tristán Suárez win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. San Miguel will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Player ratings

Gabriel Silva runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Iván Vera 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.

Match

Iván Vera sends Tristán Suárez past San Miguel

It finished 2‑1, and it was Iván Vera’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tristán Suárez.

Boardroom

137% of the income goes out in wages at Tristán Suárez

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Player ratings

Iván Vera was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.28. 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.

Squad

Iván Vera is carrying Tristán Suárez

9 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

When it matters, Agustín Gallo plays

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.

Squad

No place for Iván Costa on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Tristán Suárez pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

423 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

4 Sep 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Maximiliano Villalba has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tristán Suárez they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Luis Alberto Pereyra 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Gabriel Iglesias 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.

Squad

Luciano Quiroz 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.

Squad

Iván Vera is carrying Tristán Suárez

8 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Boardroom

Tristán Suárez release $1.6M for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

Squad

Iván Costa named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Iván Costa is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gabriel Silva

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Tristán Suárez and Estudiantes cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Estudiantes came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

421 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

21 Aug 2034
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Matías Salgado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Agustín Gallo, 35, rolls back the years — 8.15

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.15 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Boardroom

147% of the income goes out in wages at Tristán Suárez

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Match

Tristán Suárez see off Madryn

Three points for Tristán Suárez, 2‑0 the final word against Madryn in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Iván Vera at his very best

Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tristán Suárez.

Squad

Andrés Vega gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Jean Carlos Garcés 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.

Squad

When it matters, Agustín Gallo plays

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.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti has to sit this one out

A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Tristán Suárez lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.

In brief

419 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

7 Aug 2034
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Maximiliano Villalba takes the afternoon — 9.02

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maximiliano Villalba provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Maximiliano Villalba has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tristán Suárez they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Luis Alberto Pereyra asks to leave Tristán Suárez

“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.

Match

Tristán Suárez get the job done against All Boys

A 2‑0 win over All Boys, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Matías Salgado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Luciano Quiroz 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Federico Villalba 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.

Squad

Iván Vera is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.20 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Boardroom

Tristán Suárez release $1.6M for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

In brief

418 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

31 Jul 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Gael López puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Iván Vera 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Tristán Suárez find a way past Los Andes

Los Andes made Tristán Suárez work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Valentino Felicetti was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.12. 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Matías Salgado at his very best

Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tristán Suárez.

Squad

Iván Costa gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

414 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

3 Jul 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Tristán Suárez let it slip despite Iván Vera

Iván Vera had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Gimnasia y Tiro were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.

Squad

Ignacio Bednarek keeps Tristán Suárez in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Millonario puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

7 unbeaten for Tristán Suárez

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Tristán Suárez did not have in the autumn.

Market

Colegiales expected to open talks for Maximiliano Villalba

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Tristán Suárez will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Player ratings

Iván Vera was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.35. 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Valentino Felicetti

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luciano Quiroz 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Matías Salgado at his very best

Marked 8.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tristán Suárez.

In brief

412 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

19 Jun 2034
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The terraces

Tristán Suárez supporters have found a favourite in Raúl Alonso

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Raúl Alonso has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Tristán Suárez get the job done against Güemes

A 1‑0 win over Güemes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Valentino Felicetti stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.81 on the card, and the Tristán Suárez support went home talking about one name.

Squad

Jean Carlos Garcés 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.28 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Andrés Martínez 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.

In brief

411 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

12 Jun 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Zurdo

17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tristán Suárez lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Tristán Suárez leave it late against Arsenal

Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Arsenal spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.

Market

Gael López 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Iván Vera 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.

Match

Iván Vera the difference as Tristán Suárez beat Arsenal

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iván Vera. 2‑1 against Arsenal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Iván Vera in the eights

A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Matías Salgado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

When it matters, Valentino Felicetti plays

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gabriel Silva

“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

408 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

22 May 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A brace, and Valentino Felicetti takes the afternoon — 8.70

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Valentino Felicetti provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

Valentino Felicetti the difference as Tristán Suárez beat San Miguel

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Valentino Felicetti. 3‑1 against San Miguel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Luciano Quiroz

Marked 8.36 — 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 ratings

Iván Vera in the eights

A performance of 8.25 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Matías Salgado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Jean Carlos Garcés 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti is carrying Tristán Suárez

3 goals and a season average of 7.24. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti named player of the week

One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Valentino Felicetti has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.

Squad

Andrés Álvarez gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

404 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

24 Apr 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The cup run ends for Tristán Suárez

0‑6 against Unión de Santa Fe, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

Matías Salgado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The terraces

Tristán Suárez are taken apart by Unión de Santa Fe — and the town wants answers

It finished 0-6. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.

Squad

Ignacio Bednarek keeps Tristán Suárez in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

Agustín Gallo, 35, rolls back the years — 8.27

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.27 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Player ratings

A first appearance Gael Rossi will want to forget — 5.66

Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.66, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Iván Vera 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.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tristán Suárez and Unión de Santa Fe in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Match

Tristán Suárez find a way past Madryn

Madryn made Tristán Suárez work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

402 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

10 Apr 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Millonario puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Valentino Felicetti runs at them all day

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Tristán Suárez

Gabriel Iglesias 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Iván Vera

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

When it matters, Agustín Gallo plays

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.

Match

Tristán Suárez share the spoils with All Boys

A 1‑1 draw with All Boys leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Squad

Words at Tristán Suárez training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Martínez 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.

Squad

The division's best last weekend was a Tristán Suárez man

It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Agustín Gallo was the best thing in any of them.

Player ratings

The pass was always on for Luciano Quiroz

Chances created: 7. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.

In brief

399 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

20 Mar 2034
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Tristán Suárez win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Colegiales will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Luciano Quiroz

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Gael López 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 Tristán Suárez can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Nobody wins at Tristán Suárez

9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Match

Iván Vera sends Tristán Suárez past Colegiales

It finished 2‑1, and it was Iván Vera’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tristán Suárez.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Matías Paz

At 22 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 ratings

A masterclass from Iván Vera

Marked 8.43 — 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 ratings

Valentino Felicetti was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.19. 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.

Squad

Jean Carlos Garcés 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

397 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

6 Mar 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Agustín Gallo signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Gallo commits to Tristán Suárez for another 2 years.

Squad

Iván Vera 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Valentino Felicetti runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Tristán Suárez hit back inside 1 minutes

Gimnasia y Tiro held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Tristán Suárez answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 87% of everything Tristán Suárez earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Maximiliano Villalba

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Maximiliano Villalba has come out of that comparison in the side, and Tristán Suárez have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

395 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

20 Feb 2034
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Agustín Gallo, 35, rolls back the years — 8.08

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Gabriel Iglesias 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 Tristán Suárez this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Iván Vera the difference as Tristán Suárez beat Güemes

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iván Vera. 2‑0 against Güemes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

One of those days for Iván Vera

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Luciano Quiroz

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Valentino Felicetti has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Tristán Suárez 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.

Squad

Tristán Suárez keep their word to Andres Ramirez

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.

Squad

Agustín Gallo is off the mark for Tristán Suárez

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Valentino Felicetti

Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

393 Edition

The Tristán Suárez Courier

6 Feb 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Gael López puts it in writing

“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 Tristán Suárez, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

Tristán Suárez tie Nicolás Bruno down

A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.

Boardroom

7 academy players handed senior numbers at Tristán Suárez

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad

Maximiliano Villalba stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Maximiliano Villalba and Tristán Suárez agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

A bad afternoon for Tristán Suárez against Chacarita Juniors

1‑2 to Chacarita Juniors, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

Doctor steps up from the Tristán Suárez academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Doctor has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Jorge Aguirre steps up from the Tristán Suárez academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jorge Aguirre has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Juan Pablo Arias steps up from the Tristán Suárez academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Juan Pablo Arias has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad

No hiding place for Ignacio Bednarek

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Bednarek, and the manager let it.

In brief