Marked for Caio Lima
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at Retrô 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
João Victor gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. João Victor has just signed for Retrô, and for once the answer mattered.
Market30 Nov 2026
As if he never left: João Victor returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. João Victor is a Retrô player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Retrô
Rafael França 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Victor Barbara and Retrô agree another 4 years.
Squad30 Nov 2026
9 new faces, and Retrô are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Wesley Nardo was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Retrô dressing room was either.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Nov 2026
At last: Retrô win one
16 matches without a win, and then this, against Anápolis. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Retrô
Rafael França and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Retrô training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Marcos 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: João Marcos. 1‑0 against Anápolis, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market23 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jorge Akamine and Retrô agree another 3 years.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Wesley Nardo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Retrô
10 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
The goals have deserted Retrô
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Retrô can tell you which week it ends in.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Sep 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Wesley Nardo left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Felipe Silva and Retrô agree another 3 years.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Matías Draghi 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 14 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
A hiding for Retrô
Beaten 0‑6 by Brusque, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The knee: Éder Mendes out for 23 days
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Retrô lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Retrô's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Retrô has to find a result from somewhere.
Match22 Aug 2026
6 goals as Retrô and Brusque go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Retrô and Brusque, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match18 Aug 2026
Confiança left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Doors closed at Retrô
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑6, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thiago Assis and Retrô agree another 3 years.
In brief
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Squad
A Retrô teenager takes the young player award
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Player ratings
Caio Lima was unplayable
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Lucas Cunha