15 Feb 2027
Monday
Process
28 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Celso Ortiz out for 131 days

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

Market

Matías Almeida says no to Maritzburg United

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Matías Almeida had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Player ratings

Sebastián Vargas beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomás Gutiérrez 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

A falling-out at Nacional

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

The dugout

Edgar Romero: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

Boardroom

Nacional turn down the training-ground plan

It is the quietest way a club tells you what its ambitions are. The money was asked for, the money was refused, and the people who work there every day now know exactly where they stand.

Match

Nacional draw a blank against Guarani

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Guarani defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

The dugout

When it matters, Carlos Espínola plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

Back issues
27 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Celso Ortiz breaks a bone — 138 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 138 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Nacional say no — this time

The offer from Maritzburg United for Alfredo Martínez 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

Nacional may not be able to give Santiago Rojas what he wants

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

Squad

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Eyes on Matías Almeida again

The phone has started ringing about Matías Almeida again, and this time the name on the line is Maritzburg United. Nacional are listening politely and promising nothing.

Loan watch

Diego Duarte keeps scoring at AVS

25 appearances away from home and 15 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Meza 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.

Loan watch

Elías Villar wants to come home

“I did not go to General Caballero to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nacional and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Squad

Tobías Marecos is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Tobías Marecos has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

In brief

26 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Nacional

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

Loan watch

14 goals on loan for Diego Duarte

24 appearances at AVS and the goals keep coming. Nacional are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomás Gutiérrez 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

25 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Almeida 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

When it matters, Leandro Meza plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

24 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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

Nacional baulk at the price for Axel Cañete

Sportivo Trinidense wanted more than $63.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Loan watch

Diego Duarte keeps scoring at AVS

22 appearances away from home and 12 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Nacional

5 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

Francisco 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.

Squad

The formation has left Fredy Guerrero behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Nacional will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief

23 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Sebastián Vargas in trouble away from the ground

Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.

Squad

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Nacional baulk at the price for Alexis Fretes

Libertad wanted more than $350.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomás Gutiérrez 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

Training ground row involving Sebastián Vargas

Tempers went at Nacional this week. Nothing a hard session and a quiet word cannot repair, though the story got out all the same.

Market

Enzon Bernal placed on the list

Nacional have made Enzon Bernal available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

22 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Francisco Morel says no to General Caballero

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Francisco Morel had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Transfer targets

Nacional make their move for Alexis Fretes

$250.0K 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

A falling-out at Nacional

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

Transfer targets

An offer of $63.0K for Axel Cañete

Nacional have gone to Sportivo Trinidense with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Market

Nacional sell Marcelo Ríos for $100.0K

Marcelo Ríos has left for River Plate in a $100.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Boardroom

Nelson Eliseche will join Nacional for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Nelson Eliseche has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Nacional have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Squad

A muscle injury and 14 days out for Gerardo Ortiz

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Nacional will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Squad

Matías Almeida falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Franco Pelozo gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Franco Pelozo is on it.

In brief

21 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nacional sell their best player to Cerro Porteno

$3.6M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.

Market

Terms done: Marcelo Ríos is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and River Plate waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Nacional is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $3.6M sale of Lucas González

He is going to Cerro Porteno, the club has $3.6M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Market

Josué Colmán 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.

Market

Nacional sign Jesús Alvarenga for $110.0K

The paperwork is done: Jesús Alvarenga joins from Guarani in a deal worth $110.0K. Now comes the harder part.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Nacional walk away from Víctor Rojas

$290.0K 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.

Transfer targets

Nacional rebuffed over Alan Romero

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cerro Porteno have kept their man, and Nacional go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Boardroom

Nacional agree a free transfer for Martín Pomes

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Squad

Words exchanged at Nacional

Tobías Sanabria 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

20 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nacional say no — this time

The offer from Libertad for Fabrizio Jara 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.

Transfer targets

$110.0K settles it between the clubs for Jesús Alvarenga

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

Transfer targets

Nacional make their move for Víctor Rojas

$140.0K 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.

Market

Angel Cardozo steps up from the Nacional academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Angel Cardozo 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.

Loan watch

Diego Duarte keeps scoring at AVS

18 appearances away from home and 11 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

A falling-out at Nacional

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

The dugout

Carlos Espínola has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Nacional will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Squad

Ignacio Bailone wants to know why he earns less

Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Nacional have no good answer.

The terraces

Supporters make their feelings known about Lucas González

The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Nacional would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.

In brief

19 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Cerro Porteno come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Nacional did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Marcelo Ríos asks to leave Nacional

“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.

Squad

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Lucas González signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lucas González and Nacional agree another 3 years.

Squad

Nacional lose Alfredo Martínez

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

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Diego Duarte’s exile

10 goals in 17 games at AVS — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Nacional updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

In brief

18 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Santiago Rojas 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

A falling-out at Nacional

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

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Diego Duarte’s exile

9 goals in 16 games at AVS — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Nacional updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

In brief

17 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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 dugout

When it matters, Leandro Meza plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Squad

The penny has dropped for Enzon Bernal

He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Nacional the difference is visible from the back of the stand.

In brief

16 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Almeida 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

When it matters, Carlos Espínola plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

15 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Lucas González has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

8 goals on loan for Diego Duarte

13 appearances at AVS and the goals keep coming. Nacional are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Elías Villar

“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.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco 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

Lucas González knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nacional, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

14 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Nacional

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

Market

Still no ink between Nacional and Lucas González

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nacional, another week without a signature from Lucas González.

The dugout

Franco Pelozo gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Franco Pelozo is on it.

The dugout

Elías Villar knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Elías Villar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Extra work for Gastón Benítez at Nacional

The coaching staff have set Gastón Benítez something separate to do. Whether it is a weakness being addressed or a strength being sharpened, nobody outside the building will know until it shows up on a Saturday.

The dugout

The manager plants his flag on Celso Ortiz

“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Celso Ortiz’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.

In brief

13 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Nacional

Celso Ortiz 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

Matías Almeida falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Leandro Meza gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Leandro Meza is on it.

In brief

12 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Josué Colmán 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 Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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.

Boardroom

Nacional agree a free transfer for Derlis Aguilera

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Squad

The formation has left Enzon Bernal behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Nacional will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco 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

Carlos Espínola gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Carlos Espínola is on it.

Market

Still no ink between Nacional and Enzon Bernal

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nacional, another week without a signature from Enzon Bernal.

Market

Still no signature from Lucas González

2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Nacional could get for him.

Squad

Orlando Gaona Lugo has company in his position

The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Orlando Gaona Lugo keeps the shirt for now, at Nacional's convenience rather than his own.

In brief

11 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Lucas González has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Nacional beat the market to Enzo Benítez from Sportivo Luqueno

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

Market

Nacional promote Ivan Gamarra from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ivan Gamarra has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Loan watch

Diego Duarte keeps scoring at AVS

9 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

The penny has dropped for Juan Feliú

He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Nacional the difference is visible from the back of the stand.

In brief

10 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Nacional

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

Squad

12 new faces, and Nacional 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Nacional

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

Loan watch

Diego Duarte keeps scoring at AVS

8 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

The dugout

When it matters, Franco Pelozo plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

Nacional put Hernán Domínguez up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Hernán Domínguez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

9 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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 dugout

No hiding place for Lucas González

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

The dugout

Leandro Meza has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Nacional will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco 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.

Squad

Josué Colmán has settled at Nacional

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.

In brief

8 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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 dugout

Carlos Espínola gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Carlos Espínola is on it.

The dugout

Lucas González knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The clock does Lucas González’s negotiating for him

3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Nacional could ask drops and the wages Lucas González can ask rise.

Market

Nacional put Hugo García up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Hugo García may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

Market

The Matías Almeida story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matías Almeida signs something — a contract at Nacional or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

7 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Only the photograph left for Lucas González

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas González will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nacional the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tobías Sanabria 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Almeida 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.

Loan watch

5 goals on loan for Diego Duarte

5 appearances at AVS and the goals keep coming. Nacional are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Market

Nacional and Joel Figueredo are talking past each other

“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.

Squad

Ignacio Bailone has seen what the next man earns

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 Nacional that is a harder question to answer.

In brief

6 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Celso Ortiz 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Nacional are still strangers to each other

12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Squad

A step back for Alejandro Samudio at Nacional

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.

Market

Talks stall between Nacional and Lucas González

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

A row about effort at Nacional

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

The dugout

When it matters, Franco Pelozo plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

5 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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 dugout

When it matters, Leandro Meza plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager plants his flag on Franco Pelozo

“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Franco Pelozo’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.

In brief

4 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nacional may not be able to give Josué Colmán what he wants

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

Squad

Tempers go at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional

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

The dugout

Carlos Espínola gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Carlos Espínola is on it.

Market

Still no signature from Lucas González

4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Nacional could get for him.

Market

Marcelo Ríos placed on the list

Nacional have made Marcelo Ríos available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

3 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Santiago Rojas

There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

The cup run ends for Nacional

3‑3 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.

Squad

A day Leandro Meza will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Franco Pelozo at 21 — 7.60

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Franco Pelozo did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Lucas González has one foot out of the door

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

Boardroom

Nacional to lose Lucas González for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Lucas González 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.

Market

Nacional turn down Borneo for Francisco Morel

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

Squad

Santiago Rojas 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 Nacional this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

One of those days for Leandro Meza

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

2 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Not going: Matías Almeida stays at Nacional

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

Squad

Words exchanged at Nacional

Santiago Rojas 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

Nacional may not be able to give Richard Prieto what he wants

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

Boardroom

Nacional agree a free transfer for Sebastián Maldonado

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Market

One of our own: Ivan Acosta joins the Nacional first team

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

Market

One of our own: Santiago Santa Cruz joins the Nacional first team

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

In brief

1 Edition

The Nacional Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Santiago Rojas 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

Sebastián Vargas in trouble away from the ground

Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.

Squad

Santiago Rojas signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Santiago Rojas commits to Nacional for another 3 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Nacional

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

Market

Matías Almeida attracts admirers

The name of Matías Almeida has come up in conversations Nacional were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Training ground row involving Sebastián Vargas

Tempers went at Nacional this week. Nothing a hard session and a quiet word cannot repair, though the story got out all the same.

In brief