17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Altos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Gabriel Soares 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arturo Medel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Altos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matheus Pedro signs something — a contract at Altos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Lucas Luan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arturo Medel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.