The Sporting Cristal Herald
Squad11 Feb 2036
A one-man rearguard from Diego Enríquez
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Tempers go at Sporting Cristal
Thiago Laplace 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.
Squad11 Feb 2036
A row about effort at Sporting Cristal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Catriel Cabellos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Feb 2036
Sporting Cristal come up short against Cesar Vallejo
Cesar Vallejo left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Sporting Cristal lose Horacio Lapadula
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout11 Feb 2036
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout11 Feb 2036
When it matters, Diego Enríquez plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout11 Feb 2036
The manager has not finished forgetting Elías Brizuela's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout11 Feb 2036
No hiding place for Diego Antinori
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Antinori, and the manager let it.
In brief
- Player ratings An afternoon Elías Brizuela will want back
- Market The Diego Enríquez question follows Sporting Cristal around
- Player ratings Fabricio Ventresca runs at them all day