Marked for André Andrade
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Sep 2029
34 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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words exchanged at Horizonte
Vinícius Lira 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.
Match22 Sep 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gui Mansano 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 dugout24 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Manoel
“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 dugout24 Sep 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad24 Sep 2029
One booking too many, and Brayan Sánchez sits out. Horizonte lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
No place in the plan for Manoel
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Market24 Sep 2029
The Arthur Nardo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Arthur Nardo signs something — a contract at Horizonte or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Sep 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Henrique Monteiro
41 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Vinícius Lira 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gui Mansano 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 dugout17 Sep 2029
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.
Market17 Sep 2029
A loan that did nothing for André Andrade
2 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Horizonte no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match15 Sep 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Figueirense came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
Manoel asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market17 Sep 2029
The Vinício story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vinício signs something — a contract at Horizonte or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Sep 2029
“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.
Market3 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Horizonte is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Victor Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match1 Sep 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luan Capanni. 1‑0 against Operário Ferroviário, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Gui Mansano 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Horizonte are still strangers to each other
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Loan watch3 Sep 2029
“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 Horizonte, and 1 appearances in 36 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.74 on the card, and the Horizonte support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Bill is no longer first choice
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The dugout
Willian Souza gets it from the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Aug 2029
Luan Capanni 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 Horizonte can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Aug 2029
Dewa United come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Horizonte did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Market6 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Horizonte is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Vinícius Lira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Viktor Baciu 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. Viktor Baciu has, at Horizonte, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Loan watch6 Aug 2029
“I watch every Horizonte game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Anápolis runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad6 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Horizonte
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Sánchez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Aug 2029
The manager makes an example of Manoel
“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
Squad25 Jun 2029
10 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.
Market25 Jun 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.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at São Paulo is saying, and nobody at Horizonte is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Everything was agreed with Goianésia and then the doctor spoke. Horizonte have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Gabriel Fernandes has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market25 Jun 2029
Add another name to the list: Shamakhi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Tiago Fernandes. The answer from Horizonte has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Horizonte asked and Botafogo-SP said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Luan Capanni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces25 Jun 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 May 2029
The cup run ends for Horizonte
0‑0 against Floresta, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad21 May 2029
Arthur Nardo 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 Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 May 2029
Londrina left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The terraces21 May 2029
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.
Player ratings21 May 2029
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.
Player ratings21 May 2029
The kick that got away from Bill
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Boardroom21 May 2029
100% of the income goes out in wages at Horizonte
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.92 on the card, and the Horizonte support went home talking about one name.
Loan watch21 May 2029
“I watch every Horizonte game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Anápolis runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
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Player ratings
Nothing got past Luca Alzamendi
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Apr 2029
20 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 dugout23 Apr 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Manoel 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.
Boardroom23 Apr 2029
Still no name above the door at Horizonte
Day 8 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
The terraces23 Apr 2029
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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Horizonte training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. César Freitas 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Marllon
“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.
Loan watch23 Apr 2029
“I did not go to Anápolis to sit and watch. I want to come back to Horizonte and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
A clean slate for Manoel
A new manager did not pick last season’s side and does not care what it looked like. Manoel has taken that personally, in the best sense, and Horizonte are seeing a version of him the last regime had stopped seeing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Mar 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 Horizonte, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Henrique Monteiro and Horizonte agree another 4 years.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Henrique Monteiro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Facundo Molina has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Horizonte is pretending otherwise.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitor Xavier, and the manager let it.
Loan watch26 Mar 2029
“I did not go to Anápolis to sit and watch. I want to come back to Horizonte and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Feb 2029
Luan Capanni breaks a bone — 32 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Arthur Nardo 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 Horizonte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Facundo Molina has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Horizonte is pretending otherwise.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Machado, and the manager let it.
Loan watch26 Feb 2029
“I watch every Horizonte game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Anápolis runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Horizonte
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Alzamendi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
88% of the income goes out in wages at Horizonte
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
César Freitas 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 Horizonte, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Feb 2029
The name of Henrique Assis keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Horizonte say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Jan 2029
60 days out for Luan Capanni after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Horizonte will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Luan Capanni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Facundo Molina has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Horizonte is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
96% of the income goes out in wages at Horizonte
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Loan watch29 Jan 2029
“I did not go to Anápolis to sit and watch. I want to come back to Horizonte and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Squad29 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Horizonte
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Alzamendi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Bill
“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 dugout29 Jan 2029
Vitor Xavier 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 Horizonte, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 Jan 2029
The name of Henrique Assis keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Horizonte say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Dec 2028
“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 Anápolis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Dec 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets18 Dec 2028
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.
Transfer targets18 Dec 2028
No deal for João Vitor at that price
Anápolis offered $66.0K; ABC said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets18 Dec 2028
Horizonte have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Lucas Matheus
“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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Anápolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Guilherme 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.
Market18 Dec 2028
Anápolis bring in an old head
Rony is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
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 David González is on it.