Marked for Nicholas Negro
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 May 2027
111 days out for Cecilio Waterman after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fenix will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 May 2027
Cruel end for Colon as Fenix pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Fenix scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match15 May 2027
Nobody wants to play Fenix right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Fenix
Mauro Cachi 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.
Match15 May 2027
Fenix are at home on the road
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Fenix training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Fernández 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.
Match15 May 2027
Fenix get the job done against Colon
A 2‑1 win over Colon, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout17 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Fenix may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Fenix
Mauro Cachi 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Esteban González 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
A 2‑1 win over Rampla Juniors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A mark of 7.92, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad19 Apr 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 Fenix will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Alvaro Gimenez could afford to be generous.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
A promise honoured at Fenix
Something was said to Gonzalo Andrada and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fenix lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Fenix
Mauro Cachi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Fenix training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Fernández 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 dugout5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicholas Negro, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Gonzalo Bueno slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Gonzalo Bueno is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market5 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Bryan Olivera has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Fenix.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The form table has caught Diego Rosa
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.