Marked for Tomás Suyo
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces10 Apr 2028
Supporters organise against the Deportivo Italiano board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market10 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportivo Italiano can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Tomás Suyo goes up and wins it — 7.88
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.88 for the rest of it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Yael Ramallo 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.
Boardroom10 Apr 2028
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomas Valdecantos, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match8 Apr 2028
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Frontera Rivera had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Market10 Apr 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ismael Aguilera has his answer from Deportivo Italiano; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Tomás Suyo goes up and wins it — 7.79
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.79 for the rest of it.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Marked 7.93. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Yael Ramallo 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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Match1 Apr 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Tomás Suyo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Deportivo Italiano.
Market3 Apr 2028
Renzo Fernández is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Deportivo Italiano has been clear about where Renzo Fernández stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thiago Paredez, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dario Bordón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
Yael Ramallo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Italiano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces28 Feb 2028
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
A mark of 7.37, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Kevin Sanchez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Deportivo Italiano dressing room was either.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Centurión, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Feb 2028
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Los Halcones will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead28 Feb 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Huracan del Paso in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Kevin Garcia 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
Crisis
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Deportivo Italiano is running low.
Match7 Feb 2028
Position 8 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Yael Ramallo 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Favio Brizuela without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Favio Brizuela was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad7 Feb 2028
The armband comes off Tomás Suyo
Deportivo Italiano will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Thiago Paredez 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 Deportivo Italiano, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 Jan 2028
The mood at Deportivo Italiano has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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 Deportivo Italiano, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Yael Ramallo 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Deportivo Italiano is running low.
Match13 Dec 2027
Position 8, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market13 Dec 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 Deportivo Italiano can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Fenix is saying, and nobody at Deportivo Italiano is enjoying the guessing.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Yael Ramallo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Italiano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Deportivo Italiano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dario Bordón 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Suyo, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Kevin Sanchez has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Deportivo Italiano can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Yael Ramallo 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Juan Bosca 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
227% of the income goes out in wages at Deportivo Italiano
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 dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Suyo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager's exit leaves Juan Bosca exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Juan Bosca is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Favio Brizuela 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
Crisis
The terraces27 Sep 2027
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market27 Sep 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Yael Ramallo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Deportivo Italiano now.
Market27 Sep 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Renato Vidal has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Deportivo Italiano.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Tomás Suyo 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 Tomás Suyo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Aug 2027
Yael Ramallo 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Deportivo Italiano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Bosca 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensor Sporting have kept their man, and Deportivo Italiano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucio De Pascale, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Favio Brizuela 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 Favio Brizuela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Jun 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Uruguay Montevideo, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market21 Jun 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 Deportivo Italiano can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Yael Ramallo 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 Jun 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Deportivo Italiano is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boston River have kept their man, and Deportivo Italiano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Suyo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
Nicolás Camerlinckx 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 Feb 2027
Words at Deportivo Italiano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Bosca 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Match20 Feb 2027
0‑2 to Sud America, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Juan Bosca
“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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout22 Feb 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Thiago Paredez 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 Thiago Paredez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Manuel Ayala 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dario Bordón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Tomás Suyo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout15 Feb 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Kevin Sanchez kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.