Marked for Eduardo Miranda
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Sep 2030
Libertad are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 43 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market2 Sep 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eduardo Miranda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Libertad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Matías Rojas and Libertad agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Libertad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Sep 2030
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Nicolás Franco, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Sep 2030
A row about effort at Libertad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hugo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
The manager makes an example of Tiago Caballero
“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.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matías Espinoza is on it.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
A promise honoured at Libertad
Something was said to Imanol Enríquez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Aug 2030
Libertad refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 43 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The dugout5 Aug 2030
Brayan Murillo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Libertad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Aug 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Libertad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Aug 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Libertad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 Aug 2030
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Libertad can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Words at Libertad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hugo Fernández 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.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
Libertad asked and Cruzeiro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom5 Aug 2030
The Libertad board find $17.5M for the manager
Money, not words, and it is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending $17.5M well is entirely his problem now.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Too much change too quickly at Libertad
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Jul 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Aguayo
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Libertad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market22 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Libertad can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout22 Jul 2030
Lucas Sanabria: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Libertad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market22 Jul 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Libertad people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom22 Jul 2030
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Libertad until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market22 Jul 2030
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Libertad can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Market22 Jul 2030
The deal that would have taken Hernán Domínguez to Sportivo Luqueno has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Libertad with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Words exchanged at Libertad
Iván Leguizamón 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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
A row about effort at Libertad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hugo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Jul 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Aguayo
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Libertad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
Tiago Caballero: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Libertad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Libertad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market15 Jul 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
The deal with Olimpia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad15 Jul 2030
A falling-out at Libertad
Iván Leguizamón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jul 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adrian Lopez commits to Libertad for another 4 years.
Squad15 Jul 2030
A row about effort at Libertad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hugo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Jul 2030
Gabriel Aguayo damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Market8 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Libertad can pretend not to have heard.
Match8 Jul 2030
Libertad up to position 3
43 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Iván Leguizamón commits to Libertad for another 4 years.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad8 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Libertad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market8 Jul 2030
The name of Eduardo Miranda has come up in conversations Libertad were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
A loan enquiry to River Plate: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
A loan move for Bryan Ramírez is in the works
Libertad have made the call to Olimpia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Jun 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Aguayo
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Libertad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad24 Jun 2030
22 goals and a season average of 7.57. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market24 Jun 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Libertad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Jun 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Libertad have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match22 Jun 2030
Libertad make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Libertad have 3 straight wins of it.
Boardroom24 Jun 2030
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Words exchanged at Libertad
Iván Leguizamón 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.
Player ratings24 Jun 2030
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Hugo Fernández 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Jun 2030
A season average of 7.55 with 21 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market17 Jun 2030
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Gabriel Aguayo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market17 Jun 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Libertad can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 Jun 2030
Juan Neira: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Libertad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets17 Jun 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cerro Porteno have kept their man, and Libertad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market17 Jun 2030
The bid was some way short and Libertad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market17 Jun 2030
The deal that would have taken Hernán Domínguez to Sportivo Luqueno has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Libertad with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad17 Jun 2030
A falling-out at Libertad
Iván Leguizamón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom17 Jun 2030
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Luis Amarilla has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Libertad have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Dec 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Libertad people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout31 Dec 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Libertad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market31 Dec 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Libertad can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Libertad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market31 Dec 2029
The bid was some way short and Libertad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom31 Dec 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ariel Schuartzman has agreed terms with Guarani for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad31 Dec 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Erick Cabaco and Libertad agree another 1 years.
Squad31 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Libertad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets31 Dec 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout5 Nov 2029
Silvio Torales: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Libertad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Nov 2029
12 seasons and 338 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Market5 Nov 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Libertad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Erick Cabaco and Libertad agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Libertad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Nov 2029
A move Gerónimo Vergara would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gerónimo Vergara is living that version at Libertad, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Olimpia will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Bruno Amione has pre-agreed a move to Libertad, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Market5 Nov 2029
Luciano Gómez is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Libertad has been clear about where Luciano Gómez stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Oct 2029
135 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Libertad know exactly what they have.
Market1 Oct 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hernán Domínguez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Libertad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Oct 2029
A falling-out at Libertad
Iván Leguizamón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market1 Oct 2029
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
news_b_reunited_with_his_manager
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad1 Oct 2029
A row about effort at Libertad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Domínguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market1 Oct 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iván Leguizamón signs something — a contract at Libertad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Libertad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Willian Riquelme has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad10 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Libertad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Sep 2029
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Hugo Fernández wants continental football; whether Libertad can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
news_b_reunited_with_his_manager
Squad10 Sep 2029
A row about effort at Libertad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduardo Miranda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Too much change too quickly at Libertad
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
Matías Rojas gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matías Rojas is on it.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
Wílder Viera knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Wílder Viera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Aug 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Willian Riquelme
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Libertad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Aug 2029
Libertad refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 43 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Iván Leguizamón 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.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
news_b_reunited_with_his_manager
Squad20 Aug 2029
Eduardo Miranda 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.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nicolás Freire is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Diego Velázquez has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market30 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Libertad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Libertad
Nicolás Freire 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.
Market30 Jul 2029
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Libertad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
news_b_reunited_with_his_manager
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Libertad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Miranda 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.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Silvio Torales
“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.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
Matías Espinoza has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Libertad will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Jul 2029
Wílder Viera hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Libertad can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Libertad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matías Rojas and Libertad agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Libertad have done the hard part with Boca Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad9 Jul 2029
A falling-out at Libertad
Nicolás Freire and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Libertad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
news_b_reunited_with_his_manager
Squad9 Jul 2029
The formation has left Erick Cabaco behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Libertad will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market9 Jul 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Libertad, another week without a signature from Erick Cabaco.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Jun 2029
3‑0, and Willian Riquelme took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Libertad tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match2 Jul 2029
The season ends: position 3 for Libertad
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 43 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad2 Jul 2029
The match ball belongs to Willian Riquelme, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad2 Jul 2029
A move Erick Cabaco would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Erick Cabaco is living that version at Libertad, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market2 Jul 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Iván Leguizamón
17 goals and a season average of 7.42 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matías Rojas commits to Libertad for another 2 years.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
A performance of 9.65 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Jun 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words exchanged at Libertad
Rodrigo Morínigo 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Iván Ramírez
14 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match2 Jun 2029
Whatever happens, Libertad do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad4 Jun 2029
A row about effort at Libertad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Espinoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Libertad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market4 Jun 2029
The name of Hernán Domínguez has come up in conversations Libertad were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match2 Jun 2029
A 1‑0 win over Sol de America, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 May 2029
There were 9 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.
The dugout28 May 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Libertad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market28 May 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Libertad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Libertad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 May 2029
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Libertad can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad28 May 2029
Iván Ramírez is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.26 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad28 May 2029
Milton Maciel 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.
Market28 May 2029
Eduardo Miranda is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Libertad has been clear about where Eduardo Miranda stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout28 May 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Mar 2029
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Guarani, and it could have been more.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Nicolás Freire 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.
Market26 Mar 2029
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. David Gallardo wants continental football; whether Libertad can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Iván Leguizamón was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Marked 8.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Libertad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Miranda 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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
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.