The Nacional Sentinel
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Nacional
Sebastián Coates 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Bruno Zuculini
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Rubén Botta has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nacional 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Luis Mejía 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 Nacional, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Camilo Cándido has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Camilo Cándido has written the date down.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Good reports on Alexis Martín Arias
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
In brief
- Squad Valentín Silvera is out on the grass again
- Loan watch The clock runs down on José Aja at Orlando City