28 Mar 2027
Sunday
Process
34 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Ignacio Aliseda breaks 12 de Octubre hearts

Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Ignacio Aliseda scored in the 86th minute, 12 de Octubre had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Cerro Porteno took the lot.

Match

Nobody above Cerro Porteno

First, on 17 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.

Market

Cerro Porteno may not be able to give Sergio Barreto what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sergio Barreto wants continental football; whether Cerro Porteno can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto 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.

Match

Whatever happens, Cerro Porteno do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Amarilla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Cerro Porteno get the job done against 12 de Octubre

A 1‑0 win over 12 de Octubre, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Juan Iturbe

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Ignacio Aliseda

A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

In brief

Back issues
33 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Sergio Barreto in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Cerro Porteno may not be able to give Ezequiel Almirón what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ezequiel Almirón wants continental football; whether Cerro Porteno can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Match

6 unbeaten for Cerro Porteno

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Cerro Porteno did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Morel 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Fabricio Domínguez

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for Robert Piris Da Motta

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Robert Piris Da Motta, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Cerro Porteno pick somebody else ahead of Ezequiel Almirón

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Ramon Acosta on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

Market

Antonio Martínez is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cerro Porteno has been clear about where Antonio Martínez stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

32 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from Cerro Porteno

General Caballero will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Cerro Porteno were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

3 goals for Luis Amarilla

The match ball belongs to Luis Amarilla, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

Gustavo Velázquez stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Gustavo Velázquez and Cerro Porteno agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Luis Amarilla

Marked 9.76 — 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Fabricio Domínguez at his very best

Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cerro Porteno.

Squad

Cerro Porteno lose Julio Montiel

24 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Player ratings

Alan Soñora was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ignacio Aliseda

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Aliseda, and the manager let it.

In brief

31 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Luis Amarilla was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto 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.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Cerro Porteno

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.

Squad

Luis Amarilla 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.

Market

Cerro Porteno may not be able to give Ariel Gamarra what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ariel Gamarra wants continental football; whether Cerro Porteno can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Ariel Gamarra signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ariel Gamarra and Cerro Porteno agree another 3 years.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Cecilio Domínguez

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Blás Riveros

7.37, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Cerro Porteno had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Ezequiel Almirón

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.

In brief

30 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

The knee: Harold Santiago Mosquera out for 18 days

18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cerro Porteno lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Both of them Luis Amarilla's — 9.06

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.06, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Manuel Roffo wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

Cerro Porteno make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Cerro Porteno have 3 straight wins of it.

Player ratings

Fabricio Domínguez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto 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.

Match

Luis Amarilla the difference as Cerro Porteno beat Nacional

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luis Amarilla. 2‑1 against Nacional, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Piris Da Motta 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 dugout

No hiding place for Juan Iturbe

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Iturbe, and the manager let it.

In brief

29 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Harold Santiago Mosquera damages knee ligaments — 27 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.

Player ratings

Fabricio Domínguez was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 39. 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.

Squad

Sergio Barreto in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Cerro Porteno see off General Diaz

Three points for Cerro Porteno, 1‑0 the final word against General Diaz in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

No hiding place for Gastón Giménez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gastón Giménez, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Luis Amarilla was the difference for Cerro Porteno

Marked 7.90. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Squad

6 new faces, and Cerro Porteno are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout

Ramon Acosta has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ramon Acosta on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tobías Vargas is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

28 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Harold Santiago Mosquera damages knee ligaments — 35 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.

Match

Cerro Porteno tear River Plate apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against River Plate, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Luis Amarilla runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Alan Soñora scores twice — 8.16

Two goals and a mark of 8.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

1 academy players handed senior numbers at Cerro Porteno

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.

Squad

Luis Amarilla 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.

Market

Carlos Lopez steps up from the Cerro Porteno academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Carlos Lopez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad

Cerro Porteno lose Julio Montiel

57 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

27 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Harold Santiago Mosquera out for 44 days

44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cerro Porteno lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Manuel Roffo raises the bar for Cerro Porteno

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Cerro Porteno heard it as anything else.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto 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.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Morel 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 dugout

Sergio Barreto gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Luis Amarilla remains an outsider

A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Cerro Porteno would admit. It shows on Saturdays.

In brief

26 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Sergio Barreto wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto 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.

Squad

Tobías Vargas 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

25 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Sergio Barreto in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Cerro Porteno may not be able to give Ezequiel Almirón what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ezequiel Almirón wants continental football; whether Cerro Porteno can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Amarilla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

24 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

15 days out for Fernando Zayas after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cerro Porteno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

So close: Jorge Morel’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Libertad moved on, Jorge Morel reports back to Cerro Porteno, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Market

Sergio Barreto wants more than Cerro Porteno are offering

“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.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Cerro Porteno walk away from Rodrigo Villalba

$580.0K was the most the club would pay and Libertad were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge Morel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

23 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Fernando Zayas out for 22 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cerro Porteno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Terms done: Tobías Portillo is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Estudiantes de Caracas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Cerro Porteno pay Pachuca $5.6M for a proper upgrade

Pachuca did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $5.6M for Sergio Barreto, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.

Market

Not going: Freddy Noguera stays at Cerro Porteno

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Atletico Venezuela had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Libertad watching Jorge Morel

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Cerro Porteno have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Transfer targets

Cerro Porteno make their move for Rodrigo Villalba

$580.0K on the table at Libertad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Sergio Barreto 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 terraces

The town asked, and Cerro Porteno paid $5.6M

Sergio Barreto was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $5.6M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Damián Bobadilla

Cerro Porteno asked and Sport Recife said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

22 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

30 days out for Fernando Zayas after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cerro Porteno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Transfer targets

$5.6M settles it between the clubs for Sergio Barreto

Pachuca have accepted the money. What Cerro Porteno do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Market

Cerro Porteno spend $4.7M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $4.7M has been paid because Ezequiel Almirón is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Market

Enzo Cabrera is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

No deal for Pedro Villalba at that price

Cerro Porteno offered $480.0K; Libertad said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

The terraces

Cerro Porteno spend $4.7M on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $4.7M for Ezequiel Almirón, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge Morel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Boca Juniors tell Cerro Porteno: Adam Bareiro is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

In brief

21 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

39 days out for Fernando Zayas after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cerro Porteno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Transfer targets

Ezequiel Almirón due for a Cerro Porteno medical

Everything agreed with Estudiantes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Market

Tobías Marecos is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Cerro Porteno may not be able to give Manuel Roffo what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Manuel Roffo wants continental football; whether Cerro Porteno can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Boardroom

Tobías Marecos signs for River Plate while still at Cerro Porteno

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Tobías Marecos has agreed terms with River Plate for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Transfer targets

Cerro Porteno make their move for Pedro Villalba

$480.0K on the table at Libertad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Market

Atletico Venezuela watching Freddy Noguera

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Cerro Porteno have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Jorge Morel 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

20 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Cerro Porteno lift the trophy

The season a town measures the next twenty against. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.

Squad

49 days out for Fernando Zayas after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cerro Porteno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Cerro Porteno say no — this time

The offer from General Diaz for Lucas Quintana 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Carlos Zárate

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Zárate will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cerro Porteno the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Transfer targets

Tomás Galván turns down Cerro Porteno

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: River Plate keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Boardroom

Carlos Zárate signs for Sol de America while still at Cerro Porteno

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Carlos Zárate has agreed terms with Sol de America for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Cerro Porteno walk away from Bruno Valdez

$570.0K was the most the club would pay and Sportivo Trinidense were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Bruno Valdez

Cerro Porteno asked and Sportivo Trinidense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

19 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Fernando Zayas breaks a bone — 57 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Transfer targets

Olimpia tell Cerro Porteno: Sebastián Ferreira is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nelson Eliseche

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nelson Eliseche will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cerro Porteno the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Transfer targets

Cerro Porteno bid $500.0K for Bruno Valdez

The offer went to Sportivo Trinidense this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

Manuel Roffo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Vegetti 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.

Market

Jorge Morel is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cerro Porteno has been clear about where Jorge Morel stands, which is more than many ever get.

Squad

Agustín Piñeyro signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Piñeyro commits to Cerro Porteno for another 3 years.

Transfer targets

Cerro Porteno ask about Tomás Galván

A loan enquiry to River Plate: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

18 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Enzo Cabrera is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Cerro Porteno may not be able to give Jorge Morel what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jorge Morel wants continental football; whether Cerro Porteno can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

17 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gastón Giménez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Fabrizio Peralta back in training

A welcome sight on the training pitch: Fabrizio Peralta has come through recovery and is pushing for a place again.

16 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Squad

Pablo Vegetti 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.

Squad

Blás Riveros called up by his country

A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Cerro Porteno that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.

In brief

15 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Jorge Morel asks to leave Cerro Porteno

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nelson Eliseche

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nelson Eliseche will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cerro Porteno the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Manuel Roffo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

14 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Enzo Cabrera is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gastón Giménez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

13 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Squad

Pablo Vegetti 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.

Market

Ariel Gamarra wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

In brief

12 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Manuel Roffo has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cerro Porteno can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Vegetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

11 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nelson Eliseche is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Manuel Roffo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Gastón Giménez for 16 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Cerro Porteno will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

In brief

10 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Enzo Cabrera is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Vegetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

9 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Market

Jorge Morel has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cerro Porteno can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Pablo Vegetti 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

8 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tobías Vargas 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.

Market

The Ignacio Aliseda question follows Cerro Porteno around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ignacio Aliseda’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

7 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Only the photograph left for Nelson Eliseche

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nelson Eliseche will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cerro Porteno the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Cerro Porteno to lose Luis Olmedo for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Luis Olmedo has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

Fabricio Domínguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

6 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Enzo Cabrera is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Vegetti 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.

Squad

Luis Amarilla slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Luis Amarilla is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ariel Gamarra

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ariel Gamarra, and the manager let it.

Squad

Cerro Porteno take the armband off Fabricio Domínguez

It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.

In brief

5 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Jonatan Torres sold, and an era ends

$9.0M from Leganés for Jonatan Torres. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.

The terraces

Cerro Porteno sell a favourite for $9.0M

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Jonatan Torres was one of the reasons people came, and $9.0M does not replace that by itself.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Manuel Roffo 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.

Market

Ariel Gamarra has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cerro Porteno can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Cerro Porteno

11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

Squad

Words at Cerro Porteno training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Martínez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

4 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The cup run ends for Cerro Porteno

0‑1 against Sportivo Trinidense, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Market

Leganés join the queue for Jonatan Torres

Add another name to the list: Leganés have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jonatan Torres. The answer from Cerro Porteno has not changed — yet.

Market

Cerro Porteno may not be able to give Manuel Roffo what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Manuel Roffo wants continental football; whether Cerro Porteno can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Cerro Porteno

Jonatan Torres and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Pablo Vegetti 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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Cerro Porteno

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Alan Soñora beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Ramon Acosta: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

No hiding place for Lucas Quintana

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Quintana, and the manager let it.

In brief

3 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Nelson Eliseche signs for General Diaz while still at Cerro Porteno

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nelson Eliseche has agreed terms with General Diaz for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Market

Nelson Eliseche is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cerro Porteno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cerro Porteno

Jonatan Torres and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

2 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Cerro Porteno turn down Aalborg for Harold Santiago Mosquera

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Boardroom

Enzo Cabrera signs for General Diaz while still at Cerro Porteno

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Enzo Cabrera has agreed terms with General Diaz for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Market

Enzo Cabrera has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cerro Porteno they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Jonatan Torres in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cerro Porteno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Jorge Morel has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cerro Porteno can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Boardroom

Cerro Porteno beat the market to Alejandro Samudio from Nacional

Nacional will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Alejandro Samudio has pre-agreed a move to Cerro Porteno, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Market

One of our own: Hugo Barrios joins the Cerro Porteno first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hugo Barrios is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Ariel Gamarra signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ariel Gamarra commits to Cerro Porteno for another 4 years.

The dugout

Ariel Gamarra gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Cerro Porteno Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jonatan Torres has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cerro Porteno can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Pablo Vegetti signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Pablo Vegetti commits to Cerro Porteno for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Cerro Porteno

Jonatan Torres 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Cerro Porteno

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Vegetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

The clock runs on Manuel Roffo's contract

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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Cerro Porteno

11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief