“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Libertad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadDiego Viera unhappy with how he is being used
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Libertad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Libertad, and 2 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
The deal that would have taken Amín Molinas to 12 de Octubre 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.
$2.3M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
“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.
“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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Libertad, and 2 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Jorge Recalde will call it something else in private.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Libertad has been clear about where Rodrigo Villalba stands, which is more than many ever get.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Libertad have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Alexis Fretes
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
A 2-0 win over 12 de Octubre, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Libertad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Jorge Recalde suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Libertad have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Hugo Fernández
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Cerro Porteno defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Derlis Almada, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Libertad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A 2-1 win over 12 de Octubre, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Santiago Santa Cruz is 16, and Libertad have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Juan Enciso is 15, and Libertad have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Libertad have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Jorge Recalde has let it be known that he does not like the way Libertad are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Matías Rojas