Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dipson Meza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mineros de Guayana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Nov 2030
José Pinto 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mineros de Guayana is running low.
“The easiest signature of my career.” José Pinto and Mineros de Guayana agree another 2 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 Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Nov 2030
José Pinto 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mineros de Guayana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mineros de Guayana can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Beycker Velásquez and Mineros de Guayana agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Maiker Rivas 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.
Brayan Zapata 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mineros de Guayana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Pinto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutJuan Méndez knocks on the manager's door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mineros de Guayana can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maiker Rivas 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.
Brayan Zapata 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Barrientos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on José Pinto
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad26 Aug 2030
José Pinto 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mineros de Guayana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mineros de Guayana can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Pinto 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.
Lucas Barrientos 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andres Rosales after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Carlos Espinoza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
0‑3 to Deportivo La Guaira, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mineros de Guayana can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with Estudiantes de Merida; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Deportivo La Guaira is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Marked 6.67 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Pinto 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.
Add another name to the list: Zulia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dipson Meza. The answer from Mineros de Guayana has not changed — yet.
Lucas Barrientos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 Jun 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Andres Rosales left the room before anybody could ask which.
At 23 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Méndez. 1‑0 against Zamora, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The dugout27 May 2030
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.” Andres Rosales, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Nobody at Mineros de Guayana is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It had gone 16 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad20 May 2030
José Pinto 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.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
Lucas Barrientos 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 May 2030
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.” Andres Rosales, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mineros de Guayana has to find a result from somewhere.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
José Pinto 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mineros de Guayana can tell you which week it ends in.
Position 15, 7 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andres Rosales after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadJeremi Machado falls out with a teammate over standards
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“The easiest signature of my career.” José Pinto and Mineros de Guayana agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Pinto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Santiago Alegria has come out of that comparison in the side, and Mineros de Guayana have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Mineros de Guayana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal that would have taken David Gonzalez to Zulia has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Mineros de Guayana with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mineros de Guayana 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.” Albert García and Mineros de Guayana agree another 4 years.
Squad14 Jan 2030
José Pinto 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutLucas Barrientos is still being punished for one mistake
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mineros de Guayana people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Mineros de Guayana, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is going to Deportivo Lara, the club has $230.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Deportivo Lara pay $230.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad17 Dec 2029
José Pinto 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.
Miguelangel Bermúdez 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.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mineros de Guayana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jeremi Machado and Mineros de Guayana 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 Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremi Machado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mineros de Guayana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Andres Castillo has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mineros de Guayana is running low.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miguel Umbría and Mineros de Guayana agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Pinto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lucas Barrientos 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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Beycker Velásquez was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Méndez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Mineros de Guayana 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Pinto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Jesús Figueroa has written the date down.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Mineros de Guayana says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Position 14 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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 Mineros de Guayana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremi Machado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Mineros de Guayana. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dipson Meza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mineros de Guayana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” José Pinto and Mineros de Guayana agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maiker Rivas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lucas Barrientos 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.
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.
“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 Mineros de Guayana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Carlos Espinoza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Aug 2029
José Pinto 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.
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 Dipson Meza is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mineros de Guayana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mineros de Guayana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Pinto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The deal with Deportivo La Guaira is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Mineros de Guayana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Joaquín Di Lollo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Carlos Espinoza. 2‑0 against Aragua, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8.11. 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.
Lucas Barrientos 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremi Machado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Mineros de Guayana, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mineros de Guayana have done the hard part with Flamengo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
José Pinto 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Jose Castillo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gabriel Rosales is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Miguel Herrera is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Oscar Cordova has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Squad14 May 2029
Maiker Rivas 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gianfabrizio González and Mineros de Guayana agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andres Castillo after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mineros de Guayana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mineros de Guayana has to find a result from somewhere.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maiker Rivas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Barrientos's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Estudiantes de Caracas next, and one man in the Mineros de Guayana dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mineros de Guayana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Pinto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andres Castillo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Jeremi Machado is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Maiker Rivas’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mineros de Guayana needing him to play as if none of it matters.
13 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Barrientos and Mineros de Guayana agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Lucas Barrientos 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 needed Juan Méndez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Deportivo La Guaira, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mineros de Guayana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Metropolitanos left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Maiker Rivas 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andres Castillo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mineros de Guayana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sergio Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Portuguesa keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Mineros de Guayana offered $210.0K; Deportivo Tachira said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Pinto 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.