Marked for Romeo Di Modugno
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Aragua
21 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.
Market10 May 2027
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Aragua
Juan Tineo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 2027
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Market10 May 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sergio Osorio 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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
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.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Aragua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Briceño was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Albert García
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jhonathan Acosta and Aragua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Aragua's wait for a win
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aragua has to find a result from somewhere.
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aragua can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Aragua
Jhonarby Salazar 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
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Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Jean Issa
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Aragua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwards Pereira 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
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 1‑3 Francisco Machis left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Apr 2027
16 matches without a win for Aragua
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Aragua are no longer polite ones.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
The mood at Aragua has turned into something else
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.
Market5 Apr 2027
“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 ratings5 Apr 2027
Edwards Pereira pops up at the right end — 7.84
7.84, 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ismael Páez and Aragua agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Aragua
Alejandro Moreno 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Aragua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwards Pereira 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
Aragua rescue it on 91 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Mineros de Guayana had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rody Gómez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
13 matches without a win for Aragua
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Aragua are no longer polite ones.
Match13 Mar 2027
Aragua are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 13 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Juan Tineo 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 Aragua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Edwards Pereira 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 dugout15 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Francisco Machis after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
Chastening afternoon for Aragua
A 0‑3 beating by Estudiantes de Merida was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match13 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Aragua's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aragua has to find a result from somewhere.
Match13 Feb 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Aragua
8 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match13 Feb 2027
Aragua cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Aragua
José Velásquez 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Ronny Maza
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Aragua
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Briceño was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
The knee: Yeferson Paz out for 67 days
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aragua lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Aragua
Juan Briceño 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
Market2 Nov 2026
The Ronny Maza story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ronny Maza signs something — a contract at Aragua or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Juan Briceño 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 Juan Briceño has written the date down.
Market2 Nov 2026
The clock does Kevin Pérez’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Aragua could ask drops and the wages Kevin Pérez can ask rise.