The Toluca Courier
Market18 Jan 2027
Franco Romero turns Atletico Nacional down
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market18 Jan 2027
Antonio Briseño hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Toluca can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Vintage Paulinho — 7.87
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.87, and nobody on the pitch better.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Franco Rossi says Toluca went back on their word
“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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Toluca rebuffed over Erik Lira
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cruz Azul have kept their man, and Toluca go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match16 Jan 2027
Paulinho sends Toluca past Cruz Azul
It finished 1‑0, and it was Paulinho’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Toluca.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Toluca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Romero 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 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Toluca
Diego Barbosa 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Helinho was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
- Squad Toluca count the cost of losing Daniel Reynoso
- The dugout The manager makes an example of Antonio Briseño
- The dugout A promise honoured for Víctor Guzmán