Marked for Nicolás Guirin
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Nov 2029
A falling-out at Cerro
Cristian Barros and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Nov 2029
A row about effort at Cerro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos da Rosa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
Nobody at Cerro 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.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerro, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market12 Nov 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cristian Barros signs something — a contract at Cerro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market12 Nov 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Román Gutiérrez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Sep 2029
Every point is an argument now for Cerro
Position 14 and 25 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cerro may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market24 Sep 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cerro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Nahuel Arena 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 Cerro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Román Gutiérrez 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 dugout24 Sep 2029
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
The dugout24 Sep 2029
Nicolás Rossi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Cerro 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.
The dugout24 Sep 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.
Market24 Sep 2029
Joaquín Pereyra is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cerro has been clear about where Joaquín Pereyra stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jun 2029
Cerro throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Cerro Largo the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Cerro will enjoy reviewing.
Market11 Jun 2029
Jairo Amaro 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 Cerro can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cerro may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Cerro have gone to Danubio with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Cerro
Cristian Barros 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.
Match9 Jun 2029
Cerro Largo left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Cerro asked and PSV said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
A performance of 8.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout11 Jun 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
Crisis
Match19 May 2029
The wait goes on for Cerro
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market21 May 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.
Squad21 May 2029
A falling-out at Cerro
Cristian Barros and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 May 2029
A bad afternoon for Cerro against Danubio
0‑1 to Danubio, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Nelson Correa ran the middle of the pitch — 6.96
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.96, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match21 May 2029
The half-term report on Cerro
Position 10, 14 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Cerro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jairo Amaro 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 dugout21 May 2029
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout21 May 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 Carlos da Rosa is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Mar 2029
Faustino Fernández damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Match14 Mar 2029
Cerro march on in the cup
La Luz are out and Cerro go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match17 Mar 2029
Nowhere to hide for Cerro
0‑3 against Racing, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad19 Mar 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 Cerro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces19 Mar 2029
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Inquest at Cerro
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Nobody on the pitch touched Alan Rivero
7.81, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Cerro had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Jan 2029
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Cerro have had the benefit of it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A move Thomás Rojas 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. Thomás Rojas is living that version at Cerro, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Cerro
Nahuel Arena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Cerro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos da Rosa 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 targets1 Jan 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.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
Modena have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
A loan enquiry to Albacete: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
When it matters, Nahuel Sena 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 dugout1 Jan 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cerro told Thomás Rojas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Dec 2028
Nahuel Arena 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 Cerro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Franco Torres 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.
Transfer targets25 Dec 2028
Cerro asked and Queens Park Rangers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
Nahuel Sena gets it from the manager
“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.
Transfer targets25 Dec 2028
A loan enquiry to Sampdoria: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
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.
Market25 Dec 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Matías González may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market25 Dec 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Cerro, another week without a signature from Tomás Molinas.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Cerro
Nahuel Arena 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Franco Torres 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
“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 dugout16 Oct 2028
Cristian Barros has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Cerro 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Cerro are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Cerro
Nahuel Arena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Joaquín Pereyra gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Joaquín Pereyra has just signed for Cerro, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom9 Oct 2028
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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Cerro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emiliano Sosa 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolás Guirin commits to Cerro for another 2 years.
Market9 Oct 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexander González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
Nahuel Sena has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Cerro 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.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
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Match
Cerro have something to play for
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Market
Cerro shop where it costs nothing
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Alejo Macelli
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Oct 2028
Nahuel Arena 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 Cerro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Cerro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Torres 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 dugout2 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Jairo Amaro
“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 Oct 2028
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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 40, with 534 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cerro may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Cerro
Nahuel Arena 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Cerro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Torres 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.
Market25 Sep 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Mariano Nichele has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Cerro.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Emiliano Sosa 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 Emiliano Sosa is on it.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Facundo Iraola
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces28 Feb 2028
Supporters organise against the Cerro board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match26 Feb 2028
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.29, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Alejo Macelli pops up at the right end — 7.76
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Cerro
Alejo Macelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Cerro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Torres was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“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
Uneasy
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cerro may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.63, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Feb 2028
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Cerro
Nahuel Arena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Cerro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos da Rosa 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.
Match19 Feb 2028
Cerro caught on 92 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Boston River scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match19 Feb 2028
A 2‑2 draw with Boston River leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Cerro
Nahuel Arena 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Cerro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Torres 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 terraces14 Feb 2028
Cerro supporters have found a favourite in Bruno Morales
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Bruno Morales has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match12 Feb 2028
Three points for Cerro, 2‑0 the final word against Albion in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“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.
Match12 Feb 2028
The drought breaks for Cerro
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Albion were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Ninety minutes of Franco Torres at his very best
Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cerro.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
A promise the Cerro board did not keep
There was a commitment, there was a date, and the date went past. Trust at a football club takes years to build and one afternoon to spend.
Squad14 Feb 2028
11 new faces, and Cerro are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.