86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tacuary lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A brace, and Diego Acosta takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Diego Acosta provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Miguel Busto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Luis Mendoza 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Diego Acosta 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Mendoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Florencio Yudis. 2‑1 against Sportivo San Lorenzo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Florencio Yudis in the middle of it, and Sportivo San Lorenzo unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Leonardo Galeano is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutRichard Brítez has become a man the manager trusts
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Sportivo Ameliano spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Diego Acosta 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Mendoza 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.
A 2‑1 win over Sportivo Ameliano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Derlys Cabañas is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Derlys Cabañas 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Nobody at Tacuary is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Richard Brítez. 1‑0 against Deportivo Santani, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Leonardo Galeano provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 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.
Diego Acosta 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
Minute 89, against Guairena, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Walter Martínez has his answer from Tacuary; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Justo González is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Miguel Acosta after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Diego Acosta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
Pastoreo next, and one man in the Tacuary dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kevin Redondo has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tacuary have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Miguel Acosta chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
Diego Acosta 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
He is 23 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.
Miguel Busto 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
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Miguel Acosta to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Nelson Ferreira'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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tacuary, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Derlys Cabañas 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.
A 1‑0 win over Deportivo Capiata, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Miguel Acosta kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Crispín Oviedo has his answer from Tacuary; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Diego Acosta 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Miguel Acosta on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tacuary, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Diego Acosta 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Antonio Cardozo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cristian Sanabria is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Federico Caceres is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Juan Santa Cruz has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Derlys Cabañas 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Walter Martínez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Tacuary now.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
Diego Acosta 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Claudio Garay and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$9.0K was the most the club would pay and Recoleta were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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.
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.
Market10 Jan 2028
The window shut and Diego Muñoz is still in the building
Tacuary spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Miguel Acosta has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Hernán Domínguez has gone, the accounts have $350.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lanús is saying, and nobody at Tacuary is enjoying the guessing.
Diego Acosta 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.
The offer went to Recoleta this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Resistencia paid $350.0K and Tacuary took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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 accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Tacuary now.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Mendoza 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.
Tacuary asked and Cerro Porteno said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Tacuary, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Libertad; Tacuary go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Derlys Cabañas 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.
Tacuary have made the call to Cerro Porteno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Independiente CG; Tacuary go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Diego Acosta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
Tacuary asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Tacuary 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Miguel Acosta has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Everything agreed with Independiente CG, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Pastoreo will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Francisco Palacios has pre-agreed a move to Tacuary, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Claudio Garay has his answer from Tacuary; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Miguel Acosta has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I watch every Tacuary game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ypiranga runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Tacuary 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 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Bruno Duarte has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Esteban Maidana'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.
Diego Acosta 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.
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.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Claudio Orquiola has his answer from Tacuary; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Tacuary 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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
Miguel Busto 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
“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 Tacuary, and 4 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Luis Mendoza was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Claudio Garay trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Derlys Cabañas 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Tacuary. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutKevin Lezcano asks for a word with the manager
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tacuary has been clear about where Santiago Márquez stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tacuary, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 33 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A brace, and Diego Acosta takes the afternoon — 9.18
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Diego Acosta provided it, and the 9.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Diego Acosta 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.
A 3‑1 win over Pastoreo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Leonardo Galeano will call it something else in private.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Tacuary, and it is not being withdrawn.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Claudio Garay has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tacuary told Alejandro Viniegra something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Richard Brítez's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miguel Busto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
5 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Esteban Maidana 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Walter Martínez has his answer from Tacuary; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Miguel Busto will call it something else in private.
In brief
The dugoutMiguel Busto dropped after a run of poor form
4 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.
Oscar Franco 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.
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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Tacuary pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Miguel Acosta to a room that had heard them before.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Diego Acosta.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tacuary told Claudio Garay something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Miguel Acosta has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Oscar Franco 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Esteban Maidana'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.
In brief
The dugoutDerlys Cabañas loses the manager who believed in him
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Tacuary, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tacuary have done the hard part with Comunicaciones, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The phone has started ringing about Edgar González again, and this time the name on the line is Ypiranga. Tacuary are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
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.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tacuary lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Oscar Franco 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.78 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Rubio Nu scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
10 matches without a win, and then this, against Independiente CG. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Oscar Franco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
A 1‑0 win over Independiente CG, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
10 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Tacuary had all but put away. Fernando de la Mora will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Something was said to Derlys Cabañas and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Sportivo Luqueno 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.
9 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Deportivo Capiata the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Tacuary will enjoy reviewing.
“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 Tacuary, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tacuary have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Sportivo Luqueno 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.
Oscar Franco 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 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tacuary can pretend not to have heard.
Oscar Franco 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.
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.
A 1‑1 draw with Sportivo Carapegua leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Miguel Acosta was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Tacuary dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutMiguel Busto knocks on the manager's door
Position 14 and 14 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.
6 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Luis Mendoza 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Miguel Acosta was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Tacuary dressing room was either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tacuary, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Oscar Franco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Tacuary can tell you which week it ends in.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
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.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Miguel Acosta after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
Looking aheadTacuary take on the side everybody is chasing
Esteban Maidana 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Florencio Yudis was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Miguel Acosta on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Sportivo San Lorenzo kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Tacuary will be asked about the last half hour all week.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.99, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Oscar Franco 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Miguel Acosta was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Tacuary dressing room was either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Esteban Maidana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Oscar Franco 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Something was said to Blas Maciel and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
SquadWords at Tacuary training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Oscar Franco
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Miguel Acosta after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Tacuary 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tacuary, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tacuary, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer from Ventforet Kofu for Edgar González was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Esteban Maidana 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.
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 new man at Tacuary has worked with Blas Maciel before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Luis Torres is a Tacuary player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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 new man at Tacuary has worked with Blas Maciel before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
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 Richard Brítez is on it.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Tacuary than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Miguel Busto’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Tacuary needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cerro Porteno is saying, and nobody at Tacuary is enjoying the guessing.
Oscar Franco 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 Jan 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
In brief
The dugoutBlas Maciel back under a manager who knows him
The fee is $260.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Nacional drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Oscar Franco 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.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
Tacuary spend $260.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $260.0K for Hernán Domínguez, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Esteban Maidana and Tacuary agree another 3 years.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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 new man at Tacuary has worked with Blas Maciel before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tacuary, and both men came out saying it was fine.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Oscar Franco 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.
In brief
SquadDerlys Cabañas falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutBlas Maciel back under a manager who knows him
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tacuary lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Mendoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The new man at Tacuary has worked with Blas Maciel before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Nobody at Tacuary 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 words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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 new man at Tacuary has worked with Blas Maciel before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
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.
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tacuary will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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 new man at Tacuary has worked with Blas Maciel before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad26 Oct 2026
22 new faces, and Tacuary 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.
76 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tacuary lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 137 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Derlys Cabañas 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Tacuary training over how hard people work
The dugoutBlas Maciel back under a manager who knows him
The dugoutOscar Franco knocks on the manager's door
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tacuary lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 144 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tacuary this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Tacuary training over how hard people work
The dugoutBlas Maciel back under a manager who knows him
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tacuary lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Diego Acosta 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Darío Ferreira commits to Tacuary for another 1 years.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Éver Cáceres was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Miguel Acosta on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Luis Mendoza 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Derlys Cabañas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 91 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
A 1‑1 draw with Guarani de Fram leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Miguel Acosta chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Matías Verdún has, at Tacuary, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Oscar Franco 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Derlys Cabañas 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Diego Acosta 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.