The Santa Cruz Chronicle
Squad22 May 2034
Felipe Preis decides it from twelve yards
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Squad22 May 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Wesley Assis
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Santa Cruz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 May 2034
Chastening afternoon for Santa Cruz
A 0‑4 beating by Vitória was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match17 May 2034
Santa Cruz out of the cup
Corinthians ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad22 May 2034
Andrey 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.
Squad22 May 2034
No hiding place for Andrey
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 May 2034
Inquest at Santa Cruz
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings22 May 2034
The kick that got away from Taddeus Nkeng
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.
Player ratings22 May 2034
Nobody could get near Yago Noal
Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
- Player ratings Bernardo spends the afternoon fouling
- Market Santa Cruz put Federico Ríos up for sale