Marked for Tomás Gemelli
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Oct 2027
First, on 58 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market18 Oct 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 The request is on a desk at Penarol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 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 Penarol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Lucas Núñez for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Penarol will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Nahuel Herrera has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Penarol 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Penarol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francisco Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Oct 2027
Tomás Gemelli has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Penarol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market11 Oct 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Penarol
Tomás Viera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Bella Italia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Penarol and fight for my place.” 14 appearances in 42 matches say the rest.
The dugout11 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 Mauricio Lemos is on it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Diego Blanco has been promised minutes
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 Diego Blanco has written the date down.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Federico Bais has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Penarol that is a harder question to answer.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Tomás Gemelli 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 Penarol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.75 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from Nicolás Azambuja at 19 — 8.32
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nicolás Azambuja did not need any: 8.32, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Penarol may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Tomás Gemelli
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Gemelli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penarol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
At 19 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Penarol may not be able to give Joel Poiso what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Joel Poiso wants continental football; whether Penarol can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Lucas Ferreira 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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Eduardo Darias'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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
When it matters, Mauricio Lemos plays
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Squad
A row about effort at Penarol
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Aug 2027
Rampla Juniors will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Penarol were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.71 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market16 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Penarol have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market16 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Tomás Gemelli
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Gemelli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penarol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match14 Aug 2027
Still nobody has beaten Penarol
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicolás Azambuja 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Rampla Juniors tried to reorganise, Penarol did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Marked 8.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Lucas Ferreira 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Jul 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market26 Jul 2027
Matías Arezo 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 Penarol can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Penarol have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match26 Jul 2027
Penarol up to position 3
41 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Penarol — 7.75
1 for Nicolás Fernández, marked 7.75, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Penarol 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
The deal that would have taken Junior Arias to Defensor Sporting has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Penarol with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $700.0K — a club that wants Axel Montaña enough to be asked twice.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Penarol people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Penarol and Nacional have settled on $630.0K. 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $650.0K — a club that wants Benjamín Sánchez enough to be asked twice.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A move Facundo Machado 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. Facundo Machado is living that version at Penarol, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Penarol
Lucas Ferreira 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 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.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Joel Poiso wants European nights
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Market12 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Penarol have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match26 Jun 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Progreso, and it could have been more.
Match28 Jun 2027
Penarol up to position 3
36 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market28 Jun 2027
Penarol say no — this time
The offer from Deportivo Maldonado for Leandro Umpiérrez was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Diego Laxalt, 34, rolls back the years — 8.01
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.01 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market28 Jun 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 Penarol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done: Tomás Viera joins from Nacional in a deal worth $720.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Market28 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Tomás Gemelli
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Gemelli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penarol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match26 Jun 2027
7 unbeaten for Penarol
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Penarol did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tomás Viera 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. Tomás Viera has, at Penarol, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market21 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Penarol have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$720.0K settles it between the clubs for Tomás Viera
Nacional have accepted the money. What Penarol do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The deal with Racing died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$540.0K on the table at Danubio. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Penarol asked and Liverpool Montevideo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tomás Gemelli is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Match19 Jun 2027
6 unbeaten for Penarol
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Penarol did not have in the autumn.
The terraces21 Jun 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thiago Espinosa 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Penarol keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Gianni Rodríguez out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Penarol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Mar 2027
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match20 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Eduardo Darias. 2‑1 against Defensor Sporting, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
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.
Market22 Mar 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Penarol can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Eduardo Darias at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Penarol.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Penarol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thiago Espinosa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Penarol
Tomás Gemelli 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Carlos Viera could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Feb 2027
74 days out for Gianni Rodríguez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Penarol will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market1 Feb 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Penarol, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tomás Gemelli 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 Feb 2027
Diego Laxalt calls time on his country
“24 caps was 24 more than the boy who started ever expected.” At 34 he has stepped away from the national side and has not stepped away from Penarol.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Eduardo Darias has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Penarol 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.