Marked for Joaquín Bonnin
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
61 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Riestra lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad24 May 2027
Cristian Paz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 May 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout24 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Obredor trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout24 May 2027
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 Marino Arzamendia is on it.
Loan watch24 May 2027
12 appearances at Sarmiento and the goals keep coming. Deportivo Riestra are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
Pedro Ramírez damages knee ligaments — 84 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
Squad3 May 2027
11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match3 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Deportivo Riestra
Position 14 and 9 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.
Match1 May 2027
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Benegas, and the manager let it.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joaquín Bonnin and Deportivo Riestra agree another 5 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
Pedro Ramírez damages knee ligaments — 92 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match21 Apr 2027
Maipú go through and Deportivo Riestra go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 7.93 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match24 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Deportivo Riestra's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Deportivo Riestra has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Cristian Paz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
200 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
Ángel Stringa 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 Deportivo Riestra can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Cristian Paz 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 Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Mateo Carrizo gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mateo Carrizo has just signed for Deportivo Riestra, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Obredor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thiago Romero and Deportivo Riestra agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Benegas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market4 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antony Alonso signs something — a contract at Deportivo Riestra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Ángel Almada 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 Ángel Almada is on it.