Marked for David Santo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for David Santo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Santo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Progreso the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Progreso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Progreso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Saravia 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Pablo Porcile, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Renzo Bacchia 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Marco Saravia joins up with his country. Progreso lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
David Santo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Progreso they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Progreso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Emiliano Álvarez 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Marco Saravia
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Progreso
19 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
José Vanetta knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Progreso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for David Santo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Santo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Progreso the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Progreso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
19 new faces, and Progreso are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Progreso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrián Colombino 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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.
Market28 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo de León signs something — a contract at Progreso or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Agustín Paz beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Progreso is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Progreso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Progreso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Saravia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mathías Cubero, and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Facundo de León. 1‑0 against Boston River, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.22 — 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Progreso are still strangers to each other
19 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Alvaro Garcia could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emiliano Álvarez and Progreso agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market3 Aug 2026
David Santo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Progreso they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Agustín Ocampo 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Progreso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emiliano Álvarez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
18 new faces, and Progreso are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Match
Progreso and Cerro cancel each other out
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Looking ahead
Ayrton Cougo faces his old club