Alessandro Burlamaqui 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Alianza Lima will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Nicolás Rusconi signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
Market15 Jan 2029
The window shut and Leonel Álvarez is still in the building
Alianza Lima 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 offer from Deportivo Municipal for Sebastián Amasifuén 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from Melgar for Enzo Borletti 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.
Paolo Reyna 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.
He is 19, and nobody at Alianza Lima signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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 easiest signature of my career.” Valentín Villarreal and Alianza Lima agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jean Pierre Archimbaud has his answer from Alianza Lima; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The offer from Universitario for Alessandro Burlamaqui 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chase for Paolo Reyna ended with $2.6M changing hands and Universitario out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The chase for Stefano Fernández ended with $1.3M changing hands and Alianza Atletico out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The fee is $1.1M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Cienciano drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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 name of Juan Delgado has come up in conversations Alianza Lima were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eryc Castillo and Alianza Lima agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alianza Lima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Alianza Lima game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Universitario runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alianza Lima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Alianza Lima that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“21 caps is more than I ever expected, and it is time somebody else had them.” At 34 he is finished with his country and nowhere near finished with Alianza Lima.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alianza Lima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Federico Girotti plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastián Ortega and Alianza Lima agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I watch every Alianza Lima game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Universitario runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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.
“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 Alianza Lima, 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Universitario to sit and watch. I want to come back to Alianza Lima and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
Felipe Araruna 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.
A 1‑0 win over Deportivo Municipal, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gaspar Gentile 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.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Alianza Lima that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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.
“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 Alianza Lima, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima 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.” Alianza Lima 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Alianza Lima know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Alianza Lima that is a harder question to answer.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gaspar Gentile and Alianza Lima agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Williams Riveros arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Still no offer on the table, and Jean Pierre Archimbaud’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Felipe Araruna 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.
“I watch every Alianza Lima game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Universitario runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matías Succar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Gaspar Gentile 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Alianza Lima will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Alianza Lima know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alianza Lima 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gaspar Gentile 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.
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Felipe Araruna 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 needed Gaspar Gentile to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Deportivo Municipal, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Alianza Lima know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The fee is $900.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Cienciano drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Marked 9.66 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 6.56 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Alianza Lima know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sport Huancayo will make the call about Jussepi García this week. Alianza Lima have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Gaspar Gentile 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.
Alessandro Burlamaqui 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.
Marked 8.55 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. Alianza Lima have a player doing his work under protest.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Renzo Garcés
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Piero Cari will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alianza Lima the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gaspar Gentile 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Girotti signs something — a contract at Alianza Lima or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alianza Lima have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gaspar Gentile 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.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Alianza Lima will not try tonight.
Marked 8.89 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Felipe Araruna 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alianza Lima they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gaspar Gentile 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by 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 Alianza Lima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alianza Lima they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gaspar Gentile 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Alianza Lima have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Matías Succar could not do
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Renzo Garcés
BoardroomThe Alianza Lima production line keeps running
Felipe Araruna 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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Alianza Lima have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Girotti signs something — a contract at Alianza Lima or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Edison Flores and Alianza Lima agree another 3 years.
Marked 9.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Marked 8.75 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gaspar Gentile 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 Leonel Álvarez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alianza Lima 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rodrigo Dioses. 1‑0 against Cienciano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The shirt still fits. Raul Farfan is back at Alianza Lima, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Raul Polo is a Alianza Lima player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The shirt still fits. Miguel Cartagena is back at Alianza Lima, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
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.
Gaspar Gentile 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.
Marked 8.68 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alianza Lima 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
The offer from Santos Laguna for Federico Girotti 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.
Position 3, 35 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alianza Lima they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alejandro Duarte 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Josué Estrada 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.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Alianza Lima will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alessandro Burlamaqui and Alianza Lima agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Josué Estrada 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.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
A new face in his position, and Federico Girotti suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Alianza Lima have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alianza Lima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Mateo Antoni 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.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Alianza Lima have had the benefit of it.
The terraces13 Dec 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 23 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Deportivo Municipal pay $2.6M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Mateo Antoni 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.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Henrique Trevisan will call it something else in private.
Mateo Antoni 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima 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.
Mateo Antoni 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.
“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 Alianza Lima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Henrique Trevisan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alianza Lima the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Alianza Lima will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Mateo Antoni 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Giovanni Cantizano 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.
“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 Alianza Lima will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Eryc Castillo 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 Edison Flores trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Alianza Lima pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Caracas defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Eryc Castillo obliged against Juan Aurich. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Alianza Lima.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Mateo Antoni 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Alianza Lima that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Alianza Lima that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Mateo Antoni 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 Dalessandro Montenegro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima 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.” Alianza Lima 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alianza Lima have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Eryc Castillo 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 Edison Flores trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Matías Succar’s exile
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Minnesota United FC moved on, Federico Girotti reports back to Alianza Lima, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alianza Lima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer from Vissel Kobe for Federico Girotti 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.
Mateo Antoni 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alianza Lima have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal that would have taken Luis Ramos to Universitario has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Alianza Lima with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alianza Lima, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima can pretend not to have heard.
Mateo Antoni 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Cesar Vallejo will make the call about Carlos Alvarado this week. Alianza Lima have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Alianza Lima the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Position 3, 35 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Lima is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Henrique Trevisan 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Universitario will make the call about Luis Ramos this week. Alianza Lima have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima can pretend not to have heard.
Luis Ramos 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alexei Rojas Fedorushchenko will call it something else in private.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima can pretend not to have heard.
Sporting Cristal pay $910.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Henrique Trevisan 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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Edison Flores is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Juan Aurich will make the call about Marco Huamán this week. Alianza Lima have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Deportivo Municipal arrived with $7.3M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alianza Lima they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luis Ramos 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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Jairo Vélez obliged against Ayacucho. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Alianza Lima.
“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 Alianza Lima, 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima 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 Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Henrique Trevisan 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Guillermo Viscarra knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Henrique Trevisan 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.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Sebastián Ortega, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Alianza Lima could ask drops and the wages Henrique Trevisan can ask rise.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima 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.” Alianza Lima have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marked 9.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Marked 8.28 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Position 2, 21 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“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 Alianza Lima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marked 9.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 39 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Marked 9.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alan Cantero. 1‑0 against Alianza Atletico, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Alianza Lima that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Alianza Lima squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.61 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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 Alianza Lima, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marked 9.42 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Luis Ramos 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 Luis Ramos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Lima can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eryc Castillo and Alianza Lima agree another 2 years.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Alianza Lima are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alianza Lima this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Luis Ramos 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.