Marked for Francisco Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Francisco Ramirez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The deal with Cruz Azul 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rafael Baca commits to Veracruz for another 1 years.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Veracruz ran out of time with Dorados. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Veracruz
Luis Alfonso Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Veracruz asked and Club America said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match6 Feb 2027
A 1‑0 win over Pumas UNAM, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Marked 7.75. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The team sheet said everything about Hiram Mier
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Hiram Mier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Veracruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Ben Martino: 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.” Veracruz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Veracruz
Juan Sanchez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Club have kept their man, and Veracruz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Francisco Ramirez has come up in conversations Veracruz were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings25 Jan 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan move for Novak Mićović is in the works
Veracruz have made the call to LA Galaxy. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market25 Jan 2027
Club America are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Veracruz will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The form table has caught Hiram Mier
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 2027
Veracruz say no — this time
The offer from Once Caldas for Francisco Ramirez 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.
Market4 Jan 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 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Veracruz
Andrés Sarmiento and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pumas UNAM have kept their man, and Veracruz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Néstor Araujo
“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 dugout4 Jan 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Óscar Perea is in the works
Veracruz have made the call to Club America. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Santiago López is in the works
Veracruz have made the call to Pumas UNAM. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
A one-man rearguard from Erick Martin
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market21 Dec 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Francisco Ramirez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Joaquín Moxica is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Dec 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 Veracruz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Dec 2026
0‑2 to Guadalajara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Víctor Mañón commits to Veracruz for another 1 years.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Diego Vega after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Paolo Yrizar
“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
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A one-man rearguard from Erick Martin
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market7 Dec 2026
The bid was some way short and Veracruz did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match5 Dec 2026
Andrés Sarmiento scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Toluca, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Veracruz
Luis Alfonso Rodríguez 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Erick Martin is the month’s best young player
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Veracruz will try not to make too much of it.
The dugout7 Dec 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Veracruz
Luis Alfonso Rodríguez 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 terraces9 Nov 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Three points for Veracruz, 1‑0 the final word against Pachuca in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Raul Edson, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.93 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Veracruz had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Diego Vega on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergio Ceballos, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Veracruz lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Veracruz's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Veracruz has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Joaquín Moxica is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Kevin Lara 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Kevin Lara
“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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Diego Vega to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Diego Vazquez has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Veracruz.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Paolo Yrizar
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
3‑6 to Santos Laguna, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Manuel Moreno takes the afternoon — 8.90
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Manuel Moreno provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Veracruz have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Juan Sanchez at 21 — 7.84
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Juan Sanchez did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Veracruz sell a favourite for $21.3M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Cesar Dos Santos was one of the reasons people came, and $21.3M does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Veracruz asked and Guadalajara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sporting CP waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veracruz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad24 Aug 2026
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑5 by Club America, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match19 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Veracruz
2‑2 against Chiapas, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market24 Aug 2026
Veracruz say no — this time
The offer from Pachuca for Guillermo Lozano 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Francisco Ramirez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $1.9M sale of Ivan Ochoa
He is going to Monterrey, the club has $1.9M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market24 Aug 2026
Jesus Ochoa 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 Veracruz can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Veracruz say no — this time
The offer from Inter for Cesar Dos Santos 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Juan Sanchez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.01
A mark of 8.01 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Veracruz have gone to Atletico Nacional with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Veracruz
Cesar Dos Santos 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ivan Ochoa. 3‑2 against Guadalajara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 21 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.