The Ponte Preta Post
Squad16 Apr 2029
Diego Tavares damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Elvis breaks a bone — 162 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 162 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Bruno Lopes
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bruno Lopes will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ponte Preta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Ponte Preta
Bruno Antúnez 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 Ponte Preta
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.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
Ponte Preta agree a free transfer for Arístides López
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Market16 Apr 2029
Alex Teixeira steps up from the Ponte Preta academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alex Teixeira 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
Ponte Preta promote Malvado from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Malvado 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
Ponte Preta promote Luiz Guimarães from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Luiz 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.
In brief
- Squad Gustavo Telles falls out with a teammate over standards
- Boardroom A promise the Ponte Preta board did not keep
- The dugout The manager has not finished forgetting Juan Alano's mistake