It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dudu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlético Mineiro has to find a result from somewhere.
Renan Lodi 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 phone has started ringing about Kawê again, and this time the name on the line is Bragantino. Atlético Mineiro are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atlético Mineiro have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlético Mineiro has to find a result from somewhere.
Gustavo Scarpa 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.
Add another name to the list: Oeste have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Natanael. The answer from Atlético Mineiro has not changed — yet.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Vitor Hugo has his answer from Atlético Mineiro; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlético Mineiro has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gustavo Scarpa 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 Tomás Cuello 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 Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Shots: 6. 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.
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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Atlético Mineiro hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Gustavo Scarpa 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 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.
7 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 ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
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.
Tomás Pérez 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atlético Mineiro 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 Atlético Mineiro 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 Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gustavo Scarpa 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 Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Atlético Mineiro pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
Gustavo Scarpa 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mateo Cassierra. 4‑3 against Vasco da Gama, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Atlético Mineiro have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Vitória will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Atlético Mineiro were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
A 0‑3 beating by Defensa y Justicia was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.64 — 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.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Atlético Mineiro dressing room in a hurry
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Renan Lodi 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Marked 8.67 — 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Everson knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Atlético Mineiro have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Gustavo Scarpa 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Igor Gomes. 3‑2 against Mirassol, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.54 — 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.
1 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Mineiro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.76 — 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 8.41 — 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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Alan Minda obliged against ABC. 3‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Atlético Mineiro.
Gustavo Scarpa 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 9.22 — 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 8.97 — 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iván Román and Atlético Mineiro agree another 5 years.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Atlético Mineiro hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Renan Lodi and Atlético Mineiro agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Gustavo Scarpa 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 8.76 — 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Atlético Mineiro hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Renan Lodi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Reinier. 2‑1 against Corinthians, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Mineiro, and both men came out saying it was fine.