The phone has started ringing about Thiago Gomes again, and this time the name on the line is Botafogo-PB. Horizonte are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Horizonte have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Bragantino 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.
Samuel 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Horizonte saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Horizonte can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Horizonte lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
This is not rotation. Antônio Cunha has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Horizonte is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Horizonte has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
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.
This is not rotation. Júnior Figueiredo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Horizonte is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Samuel Lima was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
Thiago Gomes 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 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Horizonte know it.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Rodrygo Mendes to a room that had heard them before.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Horizonte know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Samuel 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Horizonte lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Matheus Henrique did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Matheus Henrique 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.
Add another name to the list: Maricá have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thiago Borges. The answer from Horizonte has not changed — yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Remo have kept their man, and Horizonte go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
He is 19 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Horizonte are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Rodrygo Mendes after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Horizonte have lost him in all but the paperwork.
$190.0K on the table at Bahia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Thiago Gomes 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.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and ASA were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Horizonte asked and Fortaleza said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Diego Rangel. 1‑0 against ASA, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Horizonte lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Horizonte can pretend not to have heard.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Thiago Gomes had Horizonte level again within 1 minutes, and Sousa never got to play with a lead at all.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Horizonte are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Horizonte lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
CRB ended it 0‑5. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces24 May 2027
A cup hiding at CRB leaves Horizonte explaining themselves
0-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces24 May 2027
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
Thiago Gomes 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Samuel Lima 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 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Lucas Rodrigues decided nobody was going anywhere. Lagarto had no time left to answer.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Lucas Rodrigues scored, was marked 7.80, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zé Vitor and Horizonte agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
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.
Horizonte moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Rodrygo Mendes, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Horizonte
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Horizonte. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bruno Batista has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bruno Fonseca has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Victor Assis has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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.
Douglas Dias 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.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Horizonte the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Juninho 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Samuel Lima 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.
Position 3, 34 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Rodrigues'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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Horizonte know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Horizonte would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Diego Rangel on the training pitch
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Tiago Gomes
Juninho 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Rodrigues trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 3, 34 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Facundo Castillo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Lima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Horizonte know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. James McFarland arrives at Horizonte with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Horizonte can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juninho 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rodrygo Braga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Horizonte know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Everything agreed with Atlético Mineiro, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Rodrigues wants continental football; whether Horizonte can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Facundo Castillo 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.
$35.0K was the most the club would pay and Náutico were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antônio Cunha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Juninho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
Horizonte have made the call to Corinthians. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rodrygo Braga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Horizonte lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Horizonte can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 goal that put Sergipe ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Horizonte equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Position 3, 34 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Lucas Rodrigues's mistake
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Position 3, 31 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Juninho 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Horizonte know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Horizonte would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
Somebody from Retrô has seen every one of Tiago Silva’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Horizonte knows it.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Heitor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Santa Cruz de Natal will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Horizonte were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Diego Rangel 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Horizonte is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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.
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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Santa Cruz spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
In brief
Player ratingsJuninho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rodrigo Fonseca is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 6 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Diego Rangel is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Horizonte will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Two goals and a mark of 8.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
At 21 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.
Juninho 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Castillo 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.
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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Tiago Silva was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Horizonte know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bruno Sabino 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.
Marked 8.32 — 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Horizonte, another week without a signature from Lucas Rodrigues.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Rodrygo Mendes could afford to be generous.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Tiago Silva
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bentonit Ijevan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bruno Sabino 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Diego Rangel has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Horizonte lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rodrygo Braga did not need any: 7.96, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Lagarto spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Skënderbeu Korçë will make the call about Diego Rangel this week. Horizonte have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Ceará go through and Horizonte go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Tiago Silva takes the afternoon — 8.73
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tiago Silva provided it, and the 8.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.98 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Fernando Braga 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Diego Rangel had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
7.61, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Facundo Castillo 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Horizonte and ASA, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.22 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Lucas Rodrigues and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Samuel Lima 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Rodrigues trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.