The Portuguesa Gazette
Squad6 Feb 2034
33 days out for Manuel Loaiza after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Portuguesa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market6 Feb 2034
Lucas Avendaño is on his way
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Portuguesa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom6 Feb 2034
Lucas Avendaño signs for Barquisimeto while still at Portuguesa
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Lucas Avendaño has agreed terms with Barquisimeto for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad6 Feb 2034
Henrry Díaz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Portuguesa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Feb 2034
A row about effort at Portuguesa
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Barrios was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match4 Feb 2034
Portuguesa get the job done against Titanes Guanare
A 2‑1 win over Titanes Guanare, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout6 Feb 2034
Jesús Ortíz back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Portuguesa has worked with Jesús Ortíz before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Boardroom6 Feb 2034
109% of the income goes out in wages at Portuguesa
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout6 Feb 2034
The manager makes an example of Junnior Gámez
“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.
In brief
- Market Still no ink between Portuguesa and Martín Barrios
- Squad Portuguesa count the cost of losing Sergio Ramirez
- Player ratings Felipe Chamorro was the difference for Portuguesa