Márcio 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Bebeto 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Porto Vitória know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
Líbano 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.
Everybody at Porto Vitória saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boavista have kept their man, and Porto Vitória go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alex Guimarães 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Porto Vitória know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Porto Vitória, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Igor Braga are not good
Mario Contreras 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Porto Vitória can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Bahia 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Palmeiras is saying, and nobody at Porto Vitória is enjoying the guessing.
Yan 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Thiago Bezerra 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pedro Bezerra has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matheus Lima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Matheus Lima is in the works
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Porto Vitória have done the hard part with Monte Azul, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Junior Núñez and Porto Vitória agree another 1 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bahia have kept their man, and Porto Vitória go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Mario Contreras'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.
Position 14 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto Vitória this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antônio Moreira has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. João Souza is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Porto Vitória lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
8 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Up for the corner, and Junior Núñez delivers — 7.14
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Junior Núñez scored, was marked 7.14, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Cavalcante after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Marcelo Araujo's mistake
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
7 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 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.
A brace, and Adriano Bispo takes the afternoon — 8.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adriano Bispo provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bruno Teixeira and Porto Vitória agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Daniel Cavalcante could afford to be generous.
Márcio 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Marcelo Araujo'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.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Porto Vitória have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Cruzeiro ended it 0‑14. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 16 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It finished 0-14. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Porto Vitória and Água Santa, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 14 goals between Porto Vitória and Cruzeiro, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Porto Vitória dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.