The Penafiel Post
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Davo
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Sep 2026
Penafiel say no — this time
The offer from Santa Clara for Madi Queta was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Roberto
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Rafael Mendes steps up from the Penafiel academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rafael Mendes 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Daniel Mendes steps up from the Penafiel academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniel Mendes 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Benjamín Ubierna 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Still no ink between Penafiel and Heinz Mörschel
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Penafiel, another week without a signature from Heinz Mörschel.
Squad14 Sep 2026
19 new faces, and Penafiel 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Jaime Sánchez knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jaime Sánchez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
- Squad Henri is a square peg at Penafiel
- The dugout Fabio Machado on the point
- The dugout Roberto left out for tactical reasons at Penafiel