Marked for Daniel Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
The terraces8 Jul 2030
The mood at Veracruz has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market8 Jul 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Veracruz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Jul 2030
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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Christian Lozano, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Ramirez and Veracruz agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Jorge Herrera 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.
Market8 Jul 2030
The Diego Abella conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Chiapas will make the call about Diego Abella this week. Veracruz have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
Veracruz sign 9 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Mar 2030
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.
Match9 Mar 2030
Veracruz cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Jorge Herrera 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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Victor Salcedo 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.
Match9 Mar 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Victor Salcedo. 1‑0 against Toluca, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Mar 2030
The manager makes an example of Andres Guardado
“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.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market11 Mar 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Veracruz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Veracruz
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match1 Dec 2029
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Dorados, and it could have been more.
Market3 Dec 2029
Uriel Alvarez 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Salcedo 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Ramirez commits to Veracruz for another 2 years.
The terraces3 Dec 2029
At 23 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.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Diego Abella was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. 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.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match27 Jan 2029
Nowhere to hide for Veracruz
0‑3 against Cruz Azul, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“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.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Eduardo Vega in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Victor Salcedo
15 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The terraces29 Jan 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Jorge Marquez
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Eduardo Vega 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Pineda and Veracruz agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Salcedo 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.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Marked 8.19 — 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market22 Jan 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Denilson Paz has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Veracruz.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 52. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match13 Jan 2029
Nowhere to hide for Veracruz
0‑3 against Pumas UNAM, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Jorge Marquez 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 Jan 2029
Victor Salcedo 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.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“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.
Market15 Jan 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ari Contreras has his answer from Veracruz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market15 Jan 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jorge Marquez signs something — a contract at Veracruz or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 39 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match6 Jan 2029
Veracruz strike at the death to beat Tigres
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Tigres had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Veracruz did not stop to explain themselves.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Eduardo Vega 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Renato Guimarães 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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javier Marquez. 1‑0 against Tigres, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Marked 7.98. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A place in the month's best eleven for Victor Salcedo
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Victor Salcedo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Veracruz have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Jan 2029
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.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market1 Jan 2029
Diego Abella 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Eduardo Vega in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
15 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A move Rodrigo Ortega 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. Rodrigo Ortega is living that version at Veracruz, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match30 Dec 2028
Three points for Veracruz, 2‑1 the final word against Atlas in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market1 Jan 2029
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 55 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad25 Dec 2028
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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Salcedo 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
A season average of 7.27 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match23 Dec 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 64 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Eduardo Vega in a row with a teammate
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.
Match16 Dec 2028
Veracruz make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Lozano 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.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Ninety minutes of Jorge Herrera at his very best
Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Veracruz.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Eduardo Vega 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Salcedo 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A season average of 7.24 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Eduardo Vega in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Victor Salcedo 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.
Match2 Dec 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Victor Salcedo. 3‑1 against Dorados, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces4 Dec 2028
At 20 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.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Ninety minutes of Victor Salcedo 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 Veracruz.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Ninety minutes of Jorge Herrera at his very best
Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Veracruz.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match25 Nov 2028
Veracruz throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Guadalajara the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Veracruz will enjoy reviewing.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Uriel Alvarez: 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Eduardo Vega 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Jorge Marquez
“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.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.51, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 47. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Daniel Ramirez out for 92 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veracruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Eduardo Vega in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Victor Salcedo 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A season average of 7.22 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Ninety minutes of Victor Salcedo at his very best
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Veracruz.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Nov 2028
Daniel Ramirez breaks a bone — 100 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Eduardo Vega 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Renato Guimarães and Veracruz agree another 5 years.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Veracruz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Salcedo 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.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match11 Nov 2028
A bad afternoon for Veracruz against Toluca
1‑2 to Toluca, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.