Marked for Gabriel Molinas
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Augusto Giménez out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sportivo San Lorenzo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
José Recalde arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. José Recalde has, at Sportivo San Lorenzo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market10 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Justo Roa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justo Roa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sportivo San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sportivo Luqueno keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexis Doldán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Alberto Montiel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Pablo Candia has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sportivo San Lorenzo 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 dugout10 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Molinas, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Augusto Giménez out for 105 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sportivo San Lorenzo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 Dec 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sportivo San Lorenzo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
The deal with River Plate 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Wilfrido Báez 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlis Benítez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
Sportivo San Lorenzo asked and Cerro Porteno said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
A loan move for Alcides Ávalos is in the works
Sportivo San Lorenzo have made the call to Cerro Porteno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
121 days out for Augusto Giménez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sportivo San Lorenzo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom6 Dec 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
The deal with Olimpia 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexis Doldán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market6 Dec 2027
José Vera is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sportivo San Lorenzo has been clear about where José Vera stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Dietze, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Dec 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
River Plate have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Augusto Giménez out for 135 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sportivo San Lorenzo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Alexis Doldán 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 Nov 2027
Derlis Benítez 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
Gabriel Molinas has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sportivo San Lorenzo 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
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
151 days out for Augusto Giménez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sportivo San Lorenzo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ivan Fernandez has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Wilfrido Báez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Sportivo San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexis Doldán 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Molinas, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Wilfrido Báez without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Wilfrido Báez was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Pablo Candia has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sportivo San Lorenzo 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
Fernando Arce 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Augusto Giménez out for 158 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sportivo San Lorenzo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market1 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sportivo San Lorenzo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market1 Nov 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Nov 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Sportivo San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Molinas 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pablo Candia, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Wilfrido Báez loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Wilfrido Báez's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Jorge Armoa slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jorge Armoa is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Sportivo San Lorenzo is running low.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Wilfrido Báez 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexis Doldán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gabriel Molinas is on it.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Marcos Ojeda
“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 dugout25 Oct 2027
Pablo Candia 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Fernando Arce pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Sportivo San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexis Doldán 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Jorge Armoa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Jorge Armoa gets it from the manager
“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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Justo Figueredo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sportivo San Lorenzo 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
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Jonathan Benítez damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Squad11 Oct 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Molinas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Dietze, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Jonathan Benítez
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ivan Fernandez has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wilfrido Báez and Sportivo San Lorenzo agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexis Doldán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Molinas
“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.
Market4 Oct 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
Jonathan Benítez damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
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 Sportivo San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Wilfrido Báez 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexis Doldán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabián Franco, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
Wilfrido Báez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Alexis Doldán 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
Pablo Candia gets it from the manager
“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 dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Fernando Arce'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 dugout13 Sep 2027
Fabián Franco 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 Fabián Franco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Pablo Candia has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sportivo San Lorenzo 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
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Sportivo San Lorenzo is running low.
Market30 Aug 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Richard Martínez
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Sportivo San Lorenzo will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Alexis Doldán 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlis Benítez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Molinas
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
Derlis 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Alexis Doldán 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 dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrés Paredes
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
The knee: Diego Morel out for 29 days
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market9 Aug 2027
Fabián Franco has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sportivo San Lorenzo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Sportivo San Lorenzo can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Aug 2027
54 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad9 Aug 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Vera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Aug 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sportivo San Lorenzo, another week without a signature from Gabriel Molinas.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Richard Escobar is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Sportivo San Lorenzo and Sol de America have settled on $210.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Sportivo San Lorenzo until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Diego Morel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Wilfrido Báez 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Sportivo San Lorenzo asked and Olimpia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Molinas, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
José Vera 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
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
Crisis
Market10 May 2027
José Vera puts it in writing
“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 San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match8 May 2027
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sportivo San Lorenzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad10 May 2027
Alexis Doldán 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Fernando Arce 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.
Match8 May 2027
0‑2 to Libertad, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Ivan Fernandez to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout10 May 2027
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.
The dugout10 May 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout3 May 2027
Gabriel Molinas: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sportivo San Lorenzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match1 May 2027
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad3 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodi Ferreira and Sportivo San Lorenzo agree another 4 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Wilfrido Báez 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Sportivo San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexis Doldán 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 dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrés Paredes
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Jorge Armoa is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jorge Armoa 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.
Market3 May 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Dietze
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match3 Mar 2027
Rubio Nu ended it 0‑0. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match6 Mar 2027
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sportivo San Lorenzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Wilfrido Báez 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 Mar 2027
Alexis Doldán 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabriel Molinas has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Cristian Gamarra has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Dietze
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market1 Feb 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 Sportivo San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Alexis Doldán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
José Vera 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.
Looking ahead1 Feb 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Diego Morel’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sportivo San Lorenzo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Marcelo Montiel 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
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Alexis Doldán 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Sportivo San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Molinas 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
Squad21 Dec 2026
83 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Alexis Doldán 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 Dec 2026
Gabriel Molinas 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Víctor Céspedes
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sportivo San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Dec 2026
The bid was some way short and Sportivo San Lorenzo did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A move Gabriel Molinas would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gabriel Molinas is living that version at Sportivo San Lorenzo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Alexis Doldán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcelo Montiel, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
A loan enquiry to Sportivo Luqueno: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market7 Dec 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market7 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sportivo San Lorenzo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.