From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Internacional can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Alexandro Bernabei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The step up is real for Diego Esser
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Guillermo Maripán 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Internacional
10 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bruno Peixoto after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Internacional
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Internacional are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Sep 2026
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Match19 Sep 2026
5 matches without a goal for Internacional
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market21 Sep 2026
Kauan is on his way
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Internacional is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Internacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Corinthians left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruno Henrique, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Squad
Juninho falls out with a teammate over standards
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The form table has caught Bruno Henrique
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Sep 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Internacional
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Internacional are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Internacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a goal for Internacional
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillermo Maripán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Vitinho runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Félix Torres
“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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.35 on the card, and the Internacional support went home talking about one name.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Gabriel Mercado dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Sep 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Internacional did not have in the autumn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Diego Esser 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Alexandro Bernabei 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Diego Esser has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Internacional they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillermo Maripán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Internacional
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guillermo Maripán, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
In brief
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Player ratings
Vitinho runs at them all day
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The dugout
Bruno Henrique is still being punished for one mistake
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The dugout
Calebe knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Aug 2026
Out, 0‑0 to Atlético Mineiro, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Sergio Rochet decides it from twelve yards
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Internacional did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alexandro Bernabei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Alan Patrick
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Braian Aguirre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market31 Aug 2026
Eyes on Kauan again
The phone has started ringing about Kauan again, and this time the name on the line is Bnei Yehuda. Internacional are listening politely and promising nothing.
Looking ahead31 Aug 2026
All roads lead to Grêmio
The fixture the calendar is arranged around. Form goes out of the window, the table is not consulted, and for ninety minutes Internacional will be judged on one thing only.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Match19 Aug 2026
Cruzeiro are out and Internacional go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Leonai Souza gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leonai Souza has just signed for Internacional, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Internacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillermo Maripán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Aug 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match22 Aug 2026
Three points for Internacional, 2‑1 the final word against Santos in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match22 Aug 2026
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 56. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Sergio Rochet: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match12 Aug 2026
Santa Cruz are out and Internacional go through, 2‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Victor Gabriel pops up at the right end — 7.95
7.95, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Internacional
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Internacional are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Alexandro Bernabei 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Raykkonen commits to Internacional for another 4 years.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Internacional training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillermo Maripán 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
One of those days for Paulinho
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Kauan has agreed terms with Ceará for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandro Bernabei and Internacional agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Alexandro Bernabei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Bicho joins the Internacional first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Bicho is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sinistro 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leonardo Viana is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juninho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Aug 2026
Alan Patrick wants to know where this is going
“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 Internacional hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alan Patrick and Internacional agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market3 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Kauan
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kauan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Internacional the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Alexandro Bernabei 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Guillermo Maripán 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Internacional 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.