Olimpia have gone to Torino 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Juan Romero will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Olimpia escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olimpia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Athletico Paranaense have kept their man, and Olimpia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Fernando de la Mora had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
1 for Juan Fernando Alfaro, marked 7.62, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The fee is $1.4M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Tacuary drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
$1.4M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Tacuary have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 The request is on a desk at Tacuary, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is going to Olimpia, the club has $1.4M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Leonardo Marcano is living that version at Tacuary, and it tends to show in the first month.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Tacuary will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Reading have kept their man, and Olimpia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Libertad; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olimpia can pretend not to have heard.
Olimpia have gone to Tacuary 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.
$1.3M on the table at Cerro Porteno. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Franco Alfonso 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.
“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.
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.
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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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.
Alejandro Machuca 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ángel González, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Juan Enciso left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout29 May 2028
Nicolás Ortiz is still being punished for one mistake
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Derlis Mereles 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 May 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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 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 medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Derlis Sanabria, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Derlis Mereles was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Position 9, 20 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“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.
Walter Rodríguez 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: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout15 May 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Juan Enciso to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gary Tello 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.
22 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tobías Portillo provided it, and the 9.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
Junior Montiel 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 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.
30 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.
Derlis Mereles 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Juan Enciso after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
38 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.
Derlis Mereles 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 Walter Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 89 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tacuary has been clear about where Alejandro Machuca stands, which is more than many ever get.
45 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.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Tacuary scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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.
Alejandro Machuca 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
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.
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.
“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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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.
Level with 94 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Tacuary had all but put away. Guarani de Fram will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It needed Junior Montiel to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Guarani de Fram, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
15 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.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Diego Aguilera has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Tacuary.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
92 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Derlis Mereles 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 Walter Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
99 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.
Walter Rodríguez 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Juan Enciso after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Gary Tello 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 words a physio says slowly. 106 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.
94 minutes played. Tobías Portillo found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Guairena went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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.
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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“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.
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 Walter Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tacuary asked and Olimpia 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.
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.
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.
“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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Junior Montiel reports back to Tacuary with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Tacuary know which stage they are at.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tacuary, another week without a signature from Augusto Gallo.
“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.
“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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Guarani; Tacuary go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tacuary told Nicolás Ortiz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
The offer from Cerro Porteno for Derlis Mereles 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.
Sandro Galeano 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Tacuary is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Tacuary go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Derlis Mereles 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fernando Cáceres trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Derlis Mereles and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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.
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 Junior Montiel is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Juan Enciso 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Derlis Mereles 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Tacuary is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pablo Gavilán trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutEdgar González has become a man the manager trusts
“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.
Jorge Núñez 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tacuary has been clear about where Gary Tello stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge Núñez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luis Giménez has his answer from Tacuary; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Juan Enciso left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Derlis Mereles 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sportivo Trinidense have kept their man, and Tacuary go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Diego Aguilera has his answer from Tacuary; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Burgos 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.
Something was said to Fernando Garcete and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The deal with Cerro Porteno 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.
Derlis Mereles 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 Rodrigo Burgos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sportivo Trinidense have kept their man, and Tacuary go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Junior Montiel. 1‑0 against Rubio Nu, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Junior Montiel was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
Cerro Porteno 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Rodrigo Pérez is in the works
“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.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Derlis Mereles 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 38 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Tacuary is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Burgos 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.
Walter Rodríguez 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 point taken on 94 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Tacuary will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Walter Rodríguez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout10 May 2027
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.” Juan Enciso chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“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 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.
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.
Luis Giménez 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Juan Enciso after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Derlis Mereles 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. Walter Rodríguez 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 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutEdgar González has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutPablo Gavilán asks for a word with the manager
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.
0‑1 to Sportivo Carapegua, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Juan Enciso left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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.
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 Sebastián Benítez is on it.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Tacuary will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Walter Rodríguez 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.
Minute 94, against General Caballero JLM, 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.
Carlos Ascues 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Burgos 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Tacuary will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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 Edgar González is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against 12 de Junio in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Burgos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Juan Enciso after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
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.
Alejandro Machuca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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 team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
3 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.
Derlis Mereles 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: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walter Rodríguez 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Tacuary training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Burgos 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Edgar González. 2‑0 against Fernando de la Mora, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Juan Enciso on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutEdgar González has become a man the manager trusts
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.
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 point taken on 86 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.
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 needed Claudio Orquiola to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Deportivo Santani, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
1 academy players handed senior numbers at Tacuary
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Burgos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
Derlis Mereles 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 Jorge Núñez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tacuary will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Derlis Mereles 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Jorge Núñez 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Diego Aguilera
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Derlis Mereles is living that version at Tacuary, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Tacuary know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
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 Edgar González is on it.
In brief
The dugoutPablo Gavilán knocks on the manager’s door