Marked for Lysander Lucas
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Aug 2030
“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.
Squad12 Aug 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 Sportivo Luqueno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Aug 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hugo García commits to Sportivo Luqueno for another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Aug 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Sportivo Luqueno, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Claudio Núñez 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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ian Silveira and Sportivo Luqueno agree another 3 years.
Squad5 Aug 2030
A season on the outside for Cristian
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sportivo Luqueno has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market5 Aug 2030
The shop window has Owen Pereira in it
Sportivo Luqueno have let the market know Owen Pereira can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad5 Aug 2030
A new face in his position, and Ángel Benítez suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Sportivo Luqueno have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 36, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market1 Apr 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Sportivo Luqueno, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match30 Mar 2030
No end in sight to Sportivo Luqueno's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sportivo Luqueno has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Claudio Núñez 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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alan Pereira, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Lautaro Comas knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Comas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Match30 Mar 2030
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Cerro Porteno? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jan 2030
“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.
Market21 Jan 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sportivo Luqueno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Ángel Benítez 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.
Squad21 Jan 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lysander Lucas and Sportivo Luqueno agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Owen Pereira has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Oct 2029
“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.
Market1 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sportivo Luqueno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sportivo Luqueno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Ángel Espínola asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sportivo Luqueno has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market1 Oct 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Enzo Benítez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad12 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sportivo Luqueno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Diego Fernández
“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.
Match10 Feb 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Owen Pereira asks for a word with the manager
“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
Match22 Jan 2029
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market22 Jan 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sportivo Luqueno they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 Sportivo Luqueno, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Alfredo Aguilar 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Ocampos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 Jan 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Thiago Szkaluba may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Jan 2029
“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 Sportivo Luqueno, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alan Pereira commits to Sportivo Luqueno for another 4 years.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Alfredo Aguilar 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Leonel Müller has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad8 Jan 2029
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Sportivo Luqueno says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Jan 2029
Sportivo Luqueno interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Santiago Romero keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sportivo Luqueno can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sportivo Luqueno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Agustín Buteler and Sportivo Luqueno agree another 4 years.
Market1 Jan 2029
He is 19, and nobody at Sportivo Luqueno signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.