Marked for Joaquín Rodríguez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market4 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alto Peru can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Gonzalo Masuero 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Alto Peru
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 2027
At 39, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Gonzalo Saavedra has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Alto Peru now.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Joaquín Gómez without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Joaquín Gómez was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout4 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 Alto Peru, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Sep 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 The request is on a desk at Alto Peru, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Maximiliano Repolho has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Alto Peru is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Alto Peru
Gonzalo Fernández 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Joaquín Gómez 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.
Market27 Sep 2027
Alto Peru have made Joaquín Gómez available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“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
Crisis
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alto Peru can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Alto Peru
Gonzalo Masuero 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Alto Peru training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Gómez 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 dugout16 Aug 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Wages swallow 129% of the Alto Peru 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Andrés Cardozo 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 Alto Peru, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad16 Aug 2027
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Alto Peru are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market16 Aug 2027
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Alto Peru could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alto Peru can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Joaquín Gómez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Gonzalo Saavedra 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 dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Cisneros, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francisco Gordillo commits to Alto Peru for another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“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
Crisis
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Supporters organise against the Alto Peru board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match28 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Alto Peru
Position 9 and 9 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.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Alto Peru
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alto Peru can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Nacional is saying, and nobody at Alto Peru is enjoying the guessing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Joaquín Gómez 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Alto Peru training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonzalo Saavedra 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Francisco Gordillo for 17 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Alto Peru will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Alto Peru has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match31 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Alto Peru
Position 9 and 8 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.
Market31 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alto Peru can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom31 May 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Alto Peru
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Alto Peru is running low.
Squad31 May 2027
Maximiliano Repolho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Alto Peru
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonzalo Fernández, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead31 May 2027
Frontera Rivera next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 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 Alto Peru, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 May 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alto Peru this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Joaquín Gómez 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.
Match8 May 2027
Huracan del Paso left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 May 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 dugout10 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Jonathan Mendez to a room that had heard them before.
Squad10 May 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Alto Peru will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Maximiliano Novas damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match27 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Alto Peru's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Alto Peru has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Joaquín Gómez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Alto Peru
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gonzalo Saavedra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 156% of the Alto Peru 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 terraces1 Mar 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Jordan da Costa
“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.
Match27 Feb 2027
A goal on 96 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Darwins Cor beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrés Cardozo and Alto Peru agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market10 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Diego Baldriz is back at Alto Peru, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market10 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Jordan da Costa is back at Alto Peru, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market10 Aug 2026
As if he never left: Darwins Cor returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Darwins Cor is a Alto Peru player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market10 Aug 2026
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Maximiliano Repolho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.