15 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Two goals and a mark of 8.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gustavo Santana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Caio Alexandre 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.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad6 May 2030
Jean Lucas 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.
In brief
The terracesBahia supporters have found a favourite in Wesley Natã
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Conrrado Green is a Bahia player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Conrrado Green is living that version at Bahia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Jean Lucas 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
A new face in his position, and Rodrigo Nestor suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Bahia have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ariel Molas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Bahia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bahia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bahia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Gabriel Gorgulho may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bahia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gustavo Santana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Caio Alexandre 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Matheus Baraka is a Bahia player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market11 Feb 2030
Bahia may not be able to give Nicolas what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolas wants continental football; whether Bahia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Matheus Baraka has, at Bahia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jean Lucas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bahia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bahia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bahia can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Cláudio Falcão will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bahia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Juninho has agreed terms with Criciuma for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Bahia asked and Juventude said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joe Rodon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bahia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Araruna 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luiz Gustavo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bahia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joe Rodon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Wesley Natã trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bahia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bahia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joe Rodon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Gonzalo Escobar is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bahia has been clear about where Wesley Natã stands, which is more than many ever get.