Marked for Alejandro Samudio
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Santiago Rojas
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nacional lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Luis Eduardo, 20, steals the show — 7.87
Marked 7.87 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Nacional
Fredy Vera 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
Luis Eduardo 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 terraces28 Feb 2028
He is 20 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.
Match26 Feb 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Luis Eduardo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Nacional.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Nacional are still strangers to each other
18 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fernando Martinez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jan 2028
Santiago Rojas damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Rodolfo Argüello had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market31 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The deal with Racing Club 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Nacional
Fredy Vera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
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.
Market31 Jan 2028
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Nacional can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Market31 Jan 2028
Everyone has stopped pretending: Amazonas will make the call about Matías Almeida this week. Nacional have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Alejandro Samudio falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
Fredy Vera 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 Nacional can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Jan 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Encarnacion had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market24 Jan 2028
The bid was some way short and Nacional did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Celso Ortiz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nacional is pretending otherwise.
Market24 Jan 2028
Alan Gómez wants European nights
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Sebastián Vargas 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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Sportivo Luqueno wanted more than $34.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Libertad have kept their man, and Nacional go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Nacional
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Samudio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jan 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market10 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nacional people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
The terraces10 Jan 2028
Nacional sell a favourite for $610.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Mauricio Cabrera was one of the reasons people came, and $610.0K does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
No deal for Mathías León at that price
Nacional offered $940.0K; Tembetary said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sebastián Vargas commits to Nacional for another 4 years.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Nacional asked and Banfield said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Nacional
Fredy Vera 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Jan 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 Nacional, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jan 2028
The bid was some way short and Nacional did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Nacional have gone to Tembetary 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Nacional can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with Cerro Porteno, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Nacional
Sebastián Vargas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
$180.0K was the most the club would pay and 2 de Mayo 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Celso Ortiz and Nacional agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Dec 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nacional people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“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.
Market27 Dec 2027
2 de Mayo come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Nacional did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market27 Dec 2027
The fee is $2.1M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. 2 de Mayo drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Celso Ortiz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nacional is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
The offer went to 2 de Mayo 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Fredy Vera 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fernando Ruiz Díaz has just signed for Nacional, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Adrian Alderete out for 45 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Nacional will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Nacional
Kauã Moraes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Nacional training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Meza 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Josué Colmán
“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 dugout22 Nov 2027
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 Santiago Rojas is on it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nacional, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch22 Nov 2027
14 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market22 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Gerardo Ortiz may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A wage question at Nacional
Víctor Rojas has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Nacional
Kauã Moraes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market1 Nov 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Nacional training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Samudio 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Kauã Moraes wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Nacional will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pablo Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Kauã Moraes has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nacional 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad1 Nov 2027
No place for Alexis Canelo in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Nacional are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Juan Feliú asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nacional they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Kauã Moraes 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Diego Duarte
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Alejandro Samudio 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.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I watch every Nacional game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Recoleta runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
24 appearances at Sportivo Carapegua and the goals keep coming. Nacional are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Ivo Mammini 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 Ivo Mammini is on it.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
22 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Sep 2027
A European night to remember for Nacional
0‑0 against Melgar, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nacional may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match14 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Nacional do not lose
8 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Kauã Moraes 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 terraces20 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Kauã Moraes 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Nacional
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Samudio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Academia Puerto Cabello to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nacional and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Marked 7.57 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Nacional had the best player on the pitch.
Market20 Sep 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Nacional signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Nacional
Kauã Moraes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Nacional
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Duarte was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“I watch every Nacional game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Recoleta runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Kauã Moraes knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kauã Moraes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
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 dugout6 Sep 2027
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 Alejandro Samudio is on it.
Market6 Sep 2027
The name of Santiago Rojas keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nacional say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad6 Sep 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Squad6 Sep 2027
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Nacional lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Nacional
Kauã Moraes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market30 Aug 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alexis Fretes wants continental football; whether Nacional can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Diego Duarte
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Nacional training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Samudio 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.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I watch every Nacional game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Santani runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
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.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
The goals keep arriving from Hugo García’s exile
9 goals in 23 games at Sportivo Carapegua — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Nacional updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Kauã Moraes asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nacional they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Kauã Moraes 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Nacional training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Duarte 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 dugout16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Celso Ortiz, and the manager let it.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“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 Nacional, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
22 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
A promise honoured at Nacional
Something was said to Rodrigo Melgarejo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 2027
Josué Colmán 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 Nacional can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nacional may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Nacional
Kauã Moraes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. 2 de Mayo have kept their man, and Nacional go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodolfo Argüello and Nacional agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Nacional training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Samudio 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.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I watch every Nacional game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Capiata runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gastón Benítez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Jul 2027
Full time on the season at Nacional
Position 4 on 38 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nacional people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market12 Jul 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Franco Pelozo, 21, steals the show — 8.36
Marked 8.36 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
Match10 Jul 2027
Nacional cannot stop winning
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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nacional may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Flamengo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. 2 de Mayo have kept their man, and Nacional go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Jun 2027
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Hugo Benítez decided nobody was going anywhere. Recoleta had no time left to answer.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.86, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nacional can pretend not to have heard.
Market21 Jun 2027
Nacional say no — this time
The offer from Fernando de la Mora for Carlos Espínola 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Nacional
Fredy Vera 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Hugo Benítez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Nacional.
The terraces21 Jun 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Hugo Benítez 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.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
31 appearances away from home and 12 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Richard Prieto
“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
Match12 May 2027
Nacional through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Independiente CG, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market17 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nacional can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.57 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad17 May 2027
Fredy Vera 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 terraces17 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rodolfo Argüello 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.
Match15 May 2027
Sportivo Trinidense left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 May 2027
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Nacional
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Meza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch17 May 2027
31 appearances away from home and 12 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Nacional
0‑3 against Cerro Porteno, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market10 May 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
Leandro Meza 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.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Nobody left the Nacional dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 May 2027
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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“I watch every Nacional game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Academia Puerto Cabello runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout10 May 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Fernando Martinez to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Nacional
Celso Ortiz 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“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.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“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 Nacional, and 0 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout5 Apr 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Fernando Martinez to a room that had heard them before.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Josué Colmán slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Josué Colmán is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
A promise honoured for Celso Ortiz
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Nacional told Celso Ortiz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Nacional
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Samudio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.