Marked for David Juárez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Apr 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lucas González
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportes Copiapó lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market8 Apr 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Deportes Copiapó, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportes Copiapó is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Lucas González 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.
Match6 Apr 2030
0‑2 to Union Espanola, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Santiago Jiménez 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 ratings8 Apr 2030
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The dugout8 Apr 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 Matias Sanchez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Mar 2030
Lucas González damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Match13 Mar 2030
A 4‑2 win over Magallanes, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.55, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market18 Mar 2030
“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.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportes Copiapó may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Julián Cosi pops up at the right end — 7.76
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.60 for the rest of it.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Lucas González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Jan 2030
134 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportes Copiapó lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market28 Jan 2030
“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.
Squad28 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportes Copiapó this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jan 2030
The medical room confirms 48 days on the sidelines for César Maluenda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Juárez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
Eliel 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 Eliel is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Jan 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lucas González
142 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportes Copiapó lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market21 Jan 2030
“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 Deportes Copiapó, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Jan 2030
Only the photograph left for Martín García
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín García will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportes Copiapó the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Lautaro Palacios and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Juárez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Jan 2030
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market21 Jan 2030
The clock does Lucas Picech’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Deportes Copiapó could ask drops and the wages Lucas Picech can ask rise.
Market21 Jan 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lautaro Palacios signs something — a contract at Deportes Copiapó or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout21 Jan 2030
Matías Coronado has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Deportes Copiapó 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Dec 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Deportes Copiapó have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match31 Dec 2029
First, on 58 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Transfer targets31 Dec 2029
Everything agreed with O'Higgins, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets31 Dec 2029
Deportes Copiapó had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Colo-Colo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad31 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportes Copiapó this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Dec 2029
Business is business: Alexis Cruz goes
Deportes Recoleta paid $300.0K and Deportes Copiapó took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets31 Dec 2029
Deportes Copiapó asked and Ñublense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom31 Dec 2029
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Juárez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Oct 2029
Lucas Picech has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Deportes Copiapó they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Lautaro Palacios 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at Deportes Copiapó training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Yáñez 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.
Boardroom15 Oct 2029
178% of the income goes out in wages at Deportes Copiapó
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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
No place for David Juárez in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Deportes Copiapó are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market15 Oct 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market15 Oct 2029
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Deportes Copiapó have gone and got theirs early.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
When it matters, Eliel 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 May 2029
Up for the corner, and Luciano Arcuri delivers — 7.93
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luciano Arcuri scored, was marked 7.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad28 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at UAI Urquiza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luciano Arcuri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 May 2029
A 2‑0 win over Central Norte, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 May 2029
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.
The dugout28 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Emanuel Ibáñez
“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 dugout28 May 2029
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Jorge Moretti could afford to be generous.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Chances created: 11. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Nahuel Ríos beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 May 2029
“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 ratings14 May 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.09, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 May 2029
Luciano Arcuri 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at UAI Urquiza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Ortíz 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.
Boardroom14 May 2029
Wages eat 141% of everything UAI Urquiza 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.
Match12 May 2029
Three points for UAI Urquiza, 2‑0 the final word against Los Andes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout14 May 2029
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Jorge Moretti could afford to be generous.
The dugout14 May 2029
David Juárez 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.
The dugout14 May 2029
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Apr 2029
Nahuel Ríos 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Luciano Arcuri 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Time is catching up with Tomás Asprea
Everybody at UAI Urquiza saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match28 Apr 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Menéndez, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jorge Moretti after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market30 Apr 2029
No place for David Juárez in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” David Juárez has his answer from UAI Urquiza; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Jan 2029
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. UAI Urquiza lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Nahuel Ríos 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luciano Arcuri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Martín SJ have kept their man, and UAI Urquiza go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Too much change too quickly at UAI Urquiza
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of David Juárez
“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 dugout15 Jan 2029
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.
Market15 Jan 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nicolás Fernández’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Sep 2028
David Juárez 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 UAI Urquiza can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Luciano Arcuri 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at UAI Urquiza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Ortíz 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.
Match2 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Wages eat 113% of everything UAI Urquiza 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.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jorge Moretti after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Agustín Cañete named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Agustín Cañete is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Samir Meza
“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.