Simón Meza

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Boston River
16 Feb 2033
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Simón Meza

309 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

28 Jun 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Ignacio Fernández damages knee ligaments — 57 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 57 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.

Squad

Simón Meza breaks a bone — 20 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Washington Silva has said yes to Cerro

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Boston River have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

Emiliano Gómez is carrying Boston River

22 goals and a season average of 7.41. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Market

Alex Bruno 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 The request is on a desk at Boston River, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Boston River

Emanuel Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Boston River baulk at the price for Ángel Aquino

Atenas wanted more than $67.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Match

Boston River find a way past Rampla Juniors

Rampla Juniors made Boston River work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Tobías Rubio

Boston River asked and Racing Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

Back issues
308 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

21 Jun 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Ignacio Fernández out for 64 days

64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Boston River lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A fracture rules Simón Meza out for 27 days

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

Market

Boston River turn down Universidad de Concepcion for Alex Bruno

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tempers go at Boston River

Leandro Suhr 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 dugout

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Transfer targets

Door shut on Matías Pérez

Boston River asked and Racing Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The dugout

Francisco Bonfiglio 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.

Match

Wanderers take the points off Boston River

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

100 appearances for Rodrigo Mederos

100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

In brief

307 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

14 Jun 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Ignacio Fernández

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

Match

Boston River taken apart

2‑5 to Racing, 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.

Squad

Simón Meza breaks a bone — 36 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Emiliano Gómez

21 goals and a season average of 7.42 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Market

Washington Silva turns Miramar Misiones down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Match

The run is over for Boston River

11 matches without defeat, and then Racing. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.

Market

Agustín Aguirre has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Boston River can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Player ratings

An own goal to forget for Francisco Bonfiglio

The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.

Squad

Tempers go at Boston River

Emanuel Beltrán 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

306 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

7 Jun 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Ignacio Fernández

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

Match

Boston River run riot against Central Espanol

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.

Squad

A fracture rules Simón Meza out for 43 days

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

Match

Boston River are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 30 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Match

Whatever happens, Boston River do not lose

11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Emiliano Gómez is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.41 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The dugout

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Market

Washington 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 Boston River, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Andrés Romero

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

305 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

31 May 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

5 goals for Emiliano Gómez

The match ball belongs to Emiliano Gómez, whose 5 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Ignacio Fernández

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

Match

Boston River run riot against Cerro

6‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

50 days out for Simón Meza after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Boston River will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Whatever happens, Boston River do not lose

10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Emiliano Gómez is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.38 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The dugout

Enzo González says Boston River went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

One of those days for Emiliano Gómez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.94, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Emiliano Gómez among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Emiliano Gómez on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Boston River and Cerro.

In brief

304 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

24 May 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Ignacio Fernández out for 93 days

93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Boston River lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

Cup progress for Boston River

A 1‑0 win over River Plate, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Squad

Simón Meza breaks a bone — 57 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Enzo González beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Leo Suárez, 36, rolls back the years — 8.01

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.01 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Match

Whatever happens, Boston River do not lose

9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Emanuel Beltrán 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 Boston River this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

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Squad

Words at Boston River training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Suhr 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.

In brief

303 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

17 May 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Simón Meza breaks a bone — 64 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Boston River

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Tempers go at Boston River

Fredy Martínez 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 dugout

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Squad

Words at Boston River training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Suhr 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

Nobody could get near Andrés Romero

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

No place for Nahuel López in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Boston River are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

Fredy Martínez gets picked when it counts

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 Fredy Martínez is on it.

The dugout

Pablo Aguirre on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Pablo Aguirre after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

In brief

302 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

10 May 2032
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Simón Meza breaks a bone — 71 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Both of them Emiliano Gómez's — 9.17

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.17, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Boston River

Leandro Suhr and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Emiliano Gómez is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.31 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

6 unbeaten for Boston River

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Boston River did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Nahuel López stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nahuel López and Boston River agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Boston River find a way past Progreso

Progreso made Boston River work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Leandro Suhr did the work nobody counts — 7.34

9 combined actions and 7.34. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

In brief

301 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

3 May 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

78 days out for Simón Meza after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Boston River will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A career in one shirt: Agustín Granja

11 seasons and 15 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.

Market

Natanael Rodríguez has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Leandro Suhr signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leandro Suhr and Boston River agree another 2 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Boston River

Emanuel Beltrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

Mario Godoy will join Boston River for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Mario Godoy has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Boston River have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Match

Emiliano Gómez the difference as Boston River beat River Plate

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Emiliano Gómez. 1‑0 against River Plate, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Emiliano Gómez

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

The dugout

Emiliano Gómez gets picked when it counts

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 Emiliano Gómez is on it.

In brief

300 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

26 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Simón Meza breaks a bone — 85 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Bruno Antúnez

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

The dugout

Cristofer Márques keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Emanuel Beltrán 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 Boston River this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

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Squad

A row about effort at Boston River

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Suhr was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Facundo Saravia

“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 Leandro Suhr

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

Player ratings

Andrés Romero was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.46. 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.

In brief

299 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

19 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Simón Meza out for 93 days

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

Match

Boston River make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Boston River have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Leandro Suhr 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 Boston River this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Leandro Suhr beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

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Match

Agustín Amado sends Boston River past Oriental

It finished 2‑0, and it was Agustín Amado’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Boston River.

Squad

Emiliano Gómez is carrying Boston River

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

Squad

Fredy Martínez makes it 200

200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

Player ratings

Andrés Romero in the eights

A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

298 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

12 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

100 days out for Simón Meza after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Boston River will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

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Market

Boston River may not be able to give Agustín Aguirre what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Agustín Aguirre wants continental football; whether Boston River can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Boston River

Emanuel Beltrán 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Boston River

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Suhr was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Boston River see off Montevideo City Torque

Three points for Boston River, 2‑0 the final word against Montevideo City Torque in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Andrés Romero

Marked 8.13 — 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

Emiliano Gómez was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.03. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alexander Velázquez

“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

275 Edition

The Boston River Gazette

3 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Boston River

Leandro Suhr 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 dugout

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Squad

Words at Boston River training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Mederos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Mederos

“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.

The dugout

Andrés Romero gets picked when it counts

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 Andrés Romero is on it.

Market

The Francisco Bonfiglio question follows Boston River around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Francisco Bonfiglio’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

Francisco Bonfiglio has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Francisco Bonfiglio has written the date down.

Squad

Questions about Simón Meza on the training pitch

The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.

Squad

Facundo Muñoa is put on a programme of his own

Individual work, away from the group, aimed at one specific thing the coaches think is holding him back. It rarely makes the news and it is how most improvement actually happens.

In brief