Marked for Kevin Lezcano
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
17 days out for Derlis Rodríguez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Guarani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Guarani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guarani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Guarani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Allende 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Derlis Rodríguez out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guarani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guarani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Nov 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Luis Martínez wants continental football; whether Guarani can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Leandro Allende 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Jorge Recalde gets picked when it counts
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 Jorge Recalde is on it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Alcides Barbotte 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 Juan Manuel García has written the date down.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
6 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Kevin Lezcano
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kevin Lezcano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guarani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Leandro Allende 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Martínez and Guarani agree another 4 years.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Guarani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Derlis Rodríguez out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guarani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Kevin Lezcano
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kevin Lezcano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guarani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Armando Méndez 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 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Guarani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Allende was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Guarani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Guarani through in the cup
A 3‑0 win over Rubio Nu, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Derlis Rodríguez out for 109 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guarani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Milciades Adorno takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Milciades Adorno provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Kevin Lezcano has agreed terms with 12 de Junio for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Market24 Aug 2026
Kevin Lezcano has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Guarani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Guarani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Allende was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guarani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The terraces
Everybody has an opinion about Armando Méndez
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Player ratings
Armando Méndez never got going