Marked for Mateo Straffurini
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Nov 2027
50 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Deportivo Riestra, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mateo Straffurini 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.
Squad1 Nov 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.
Match30 Oct 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Ignacio Arce is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Lautaro Toledo Pacheco 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.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Chengdu Rongcheng to sit and watch. I want to come back to Deportivo Riestra and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Deportivo Riestra
Position 14 and 10 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Riestra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Gabriel Obredor 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Arce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pablo Monje, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jan 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 Gabriel Obredor is on it.
Market11 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexander Díaz signs something — a contract at Deportivo Riestra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
37 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Pablo Monje 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
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Riestra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Central Norte, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad4 Jan 2027
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ignacio Arce 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antony Alonso, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Ignacio Arce has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Deportivo Riestra 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Cristian Paz asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Riestra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Everything was agreed with Ferro Carril Oeste and then the doctor spoke. Deportivo Riestra have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Market28 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Ángel Stringa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ángel Stringa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Riestra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Deportivo Riestra have done the hard part with Atlanta, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Deportivo Riestra had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Talleres, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ángel Stringa has agreed terms with Banfield for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Alexander Díaz 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market21 Dec 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Riestra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
Supporters turn on the $5.1M sale of Mariano Bracamonte
He is going to Nacional, the club has $5.1M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market21 Dec 2026
Nacional pay $5.1M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market21 Dec 2026
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.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
The deal with Talleres is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market21 Dec 2026
Newell's Old Boys paid $230.0K and Deportivo Riestra took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Deportivo Riestra people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match14 Dec 2026
Position 14, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Pedro Ramírez
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The name of Jorge Luque has come up in conversations Deportivo Riestra were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Faustino De Vito 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.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
A loan move for Fabricio Bustos is in the works
Deportivo Riestra have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Deportivo Riestra have made the call to Boca Juniors. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Riestra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Facundo Miño and Deportivo Riestra agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Deportivo Riestra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Obredor 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nicolás Benegas 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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Antony Alonso
“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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Deportivo Riestra have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.