Marked for Mateo Molinari
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Apr 2032
Two goals and a mark of 9.24 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings26 Apr 2032
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Lucas Carrizo 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.
Match24 Apr 2032
Still nobody has beaten Cerro Largo
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match24 Apr 2032
A 2‑1 win over Uruguay Montevideo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Guerra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Apr 2032
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
Tiziano Correa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Cerro Largo 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Dec 2031
Tomás Rodríguez damages knee ligaments — 62 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
96 days out for Santiago Franca after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cerro Largo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 Dec 2031
Brian Guerra 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 Cerro Largo can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets22 Dec 2031
The deal with Rampla Juniors 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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Tomás Rodríguez 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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at Cerro Largo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Carrizo 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 dugout22 Dec 2031
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.
Transfer targets22 Dec 2031
A loan move for Ondrej Krejci is in the works
Cerro Largo have made the call to Slavia Prague. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout22 Dec 2031
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Nov 2031
111 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cerro Largo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad3 Nov 2031
A fracture rules Bruno Hernández out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cerro Largo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Tomás Rodríguez 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.
Squad3 Nov 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastián Assis and Cerro Largo agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
Daniel Ibarra has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Cerro Largo 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Sep 2031
Tiziano Correa damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cerro Largo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Sep 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Largo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at Cerro Largo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Carrizo 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.
Squad15 Sep 2031
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Gerónimo Blanco, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Mar 2031
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cerro Largo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings10 Mar 2031
A brace, and Lucas Carrizo takes the afternoon — 8.90
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lucas Carrizo provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings10 Mar 2031
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Mauricio Lemos 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Carrizo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Mar 2031
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Neira, and the manager let it.
Match8 Mar 2031
It needed Lucas Carrizo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Rampla Juniors, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Feb 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Federico Pintado and Cerro Largo agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Mauricio Lemos 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.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sebastián Assis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Feb 2031
The name of Thiago Martínez has come up in conversations Cerro Largo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The dugout3 Feb 2031
Mateo Molinari 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.
The dugout3 Feb 2031
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Jan 2031
A fracture rules Brian Lozano out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cerro Largo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad6 Jan 2031
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Cerro Largo had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market6 Jan 2031
Bali United come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Cerro Largo did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market6 Jan 2031
The deal that would have taken Walter Domínguez to Progreso has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Cerro Largo with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad6 Jan 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Santiago Franca commits to Cerro Largo for another 4 years.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Mauricio Lemos 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 targets6 Jan 2031
Central Espanol wanted more than $41.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Cerro Largo asked and Wanderers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market6 Jan 2031
The name of Santiago Ruiz has come up in conversations Cerro Largo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Dec 2030
43 days out for Brian Lozano after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cerro Largo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad9 Dec 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nazareno Cappello
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cerro Largo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Dec 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Walter Domínguez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cerro Largo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom9 Dec 2030
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Walter Domínguez has agreed terms with Liverpool Montevideo for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Mauricio Lemos 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.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Cerro Largo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Carrizo 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
Steady
Squad11 Nov 2030
Brian Lozano breaks a bone — 71 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 Nov 2030
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cerro Largo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market11 Nov 2030
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Mauricio Lemos 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.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Cerro Largo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Assis 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 dugout11 Nov 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Oct 2030
99 days out for Brian Lozano after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cerro Largo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Largo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Sebastián Assis 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 dugout14 Oct 2030
“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 dugout14 Oct 2030
The manager has not finished forgetting Mateo Molinari'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.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.