Marked for Leandro Cáceres
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Nov 2027
Whatever happens, Salto do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Salto
Robert Machado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Adrián da Fonte 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Franco Lombardo
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Franco Lombardo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Salto have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout8 Nov 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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fernando Cardozo chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match6 Nov 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Deportivo Italiano will be the happier side with the point.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Oct 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 The request is on a desk at Salto, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Salto
Lucas Bernal 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 Oct 2027
Sebastián Fernández 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
Leandro Cáceres is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Salto has been clear about where Leandro Cáceres stands, which is more than many ever get.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Sud America next, and one man in the Salto dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market11 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Adrián da Fonte’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Salto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The training reports on Adrián da Fonte are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 Jul 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Salto have done the hard part with Cerro, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Salto
Lucas Bernal 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.
Match10 Jul 2027
3 matches without a goal for Salto
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
Wages swallow 144% of the Salto income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout12 Jul 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.
Match12 Jul 2027
Halfway: Salto sit in position 7
41 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
In brief
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Market
Still no ink between Salto and Adrián da Fonte
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Squad
Words at Salto training over how hard people work
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Squad
Salto are still strangers to each other
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Salto
11 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Nahuel González ran the middle of the pitch — 6.52
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 16 combined actions and a mark of 6.52, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Salto
Lucas Bernal 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Salus take the points off Salto
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 121% of everything Salto earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout22 Feb 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 0‑1 Fernando Cardozo left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Salto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Cáceres 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
An order from above at Salto: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Salto
Rafael Hornos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Diego Bentancur 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Salto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Cáceres was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Salto
6 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Salto
Fabrizzio Franco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 128% of the Salto income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Salto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Martínez 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Agustín González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Leandro Cáceres's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market25 Jan 2027
Lucas Pereira is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Salto has been clear about where Lucas Pereira stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Salto
Robert Machado 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Salto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Cáceres was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Franco Lombardo
“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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Agustín González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market18 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adrián da Fonte signs something — a contract at Salto or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market18 Jan 2027
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Salto money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
“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.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Salto have done the hard part with Cerrito, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Salto
Lucas Bernal 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.
Transfer targets28 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 128% of everything Salto earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Salto told Daniel Biquez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Salto have made the call to Central Espanol. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ruben Rodríguez and Salto agree another 3 years.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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
Uneasy
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atenas keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Salto have done the hard part with Liverpool Montevideo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Lucas Bernal 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 Salto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Federico Valverde has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín González, and the manager let it.
Market14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Salto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Cáceres 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Darío Ferreira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Salto 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Experience through the door at Salto
Jonathan Martínez arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Salto's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Salto has to find a result from somewhere.
Match28 Nov 2026
Salto cannot find the net
7 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Salto
Robert Machado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
119% of the income goes out in wages at Salto
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Leandro Cáceres
“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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fernando Cardozo chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Agustín González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Salto
6 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
The goals have deserted Salto
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Salto can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Salto
Sebastián Fernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match21 Nov 2026
Point won or two lost for Salto?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Cooper? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The plan did not have a place for Leandro Cáceres
Nobody at Salto is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad23 Nov 2026
At 20 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Salto have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Oct 2026
11 unbeaten for Salto
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Salto did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Salto
Darío Ferreira 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.
Market26 Oct 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match24 Oct 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sud America defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The plan did not have a place for Leandro Cáceres
Nobody at Salto is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad26 Oct 2026
At 28 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Salto have a decision that made itself.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A new face in his position, and Agustín González suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Salto have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 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 Salto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Matias Pereira 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
This league is too small for Favio Brizuela
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Salto will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Salto
10 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Salto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Cáceres was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Sep 2026
8 unbeaten for Salto
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Salto did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Salto
Lucas Bernal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Juan Ferreira, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.31, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cristian Cardozo and Salto agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leandro Cáceres, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fernando Cardozo after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Salto
Darío Ferreira 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match29 Aug 2026
Honours even between Salto and Lito
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fernando Cardozo chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Match25 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Potencia will be the happier side with the point.
Squad31 Aug 2026
At 26 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Salto have a decision that made itself.
Market31 Aug 2026
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Salto could get for him.