The Nacional Sentinel
Match19 Aug 2026
Lucas González sends Nacional through
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Lucas González obliged against 2 de Mayo. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Nacional.
Match19 Aug 2026
Nacional win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. 2 de Mayo will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Nacional to lose Lucas González for free
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Lucas González has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A move Pablo Rodríguez would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Pablo Rodríguez is living that version at Nacional, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market24 Aug 2026
Eyes on Lucas González again
The phone has started ringing about Lucas González again, and this time the name on the line is Dinamo Batumi. Nacional are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Valentín Larralde 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Nacional
Sebastián Vargas 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Carlos Espínola
7.65, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Nacional had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Rodrigo Melgarejo shuts the door
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
In brief
- Player ratings Líder Cáceres was immovable
- Squad Pablo Rodríguez stays put
- Market Nacional buy the years ahead of Pablo Rodríguez