The Santa Cruz de Natal Sentinel
Squad16 Apr 2029
The knee: Fernando Neto out for 106 days
106 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Santa Cruz de Natal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Santa Cruz de Natal
Pedrão 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.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
Graduation day at Santa Cruz de Natal
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Santa Cruz de Natal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elivelton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market16 Apr 2029
One of our own: Matheus Assis joins the Santa Cruz de Natal first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matheus Assis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market16 Apr 2029
Santa Cruz de Natal promote Roberto Lopes from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roberto Lopes 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.
Market16 Apr 2029
José Borges steps up from the Santa Cruz de Natal academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. José Borges 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.
Market16 Apr 2029
Guga steps up from the Santa Cruz de Natal academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Guga 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.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
A promise the Santa Cruz de Natal board did not keep
There was a commitment, there was a date, and the date went past. Trust at a football club takes years to build and one afternoon to spend.
In brief
- Boardroom No investment in the facilities at Santa Cruz de Natal
- The dugout Felipe Ospina asks for a word with the manager
- Looking ahead Gabriel Feitosa goes back to face Treze