“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nova Iguaçu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nova Iguaçu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.90 — 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
7.82, 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Nova Iguaçu close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ruan Ribeiro. 3‑2 against Capital, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Maricá will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Nova Iguaçu were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
A brace, and Ruan Ribeiro takes the afternoon — 9.17
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ruan Ribeiro provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nova Iguaçu, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Xandinho 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Two goals and a mark of 9.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Nova Iguaçu have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Xandinho 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Nova Iguaçu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raul 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cascavel have kept their man, and Nova Iguaçu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Cruz has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emilio Vélez did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
1 for Fernandinho, marked 7.96, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Léo Rafael commits to Nova Iguaçu for another 4 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Bruno Souza 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 offer from Maracanã for Matheus Miranda 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nova Iguaçu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nova Iguaçu have gone to GAS 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.
Minute 92, against Goiânia, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Leonardo David wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Leonardo David found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Mixto went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nova Iguaçu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Marked 9.09 — 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Nova Iguaçu have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nova Iguaçu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Raul 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.
Emilio Vélez scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Portuguesa, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Léo Rafael 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Fernandinho is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nova Iguaçu people have started saying his name in the past tense.
1 for Fernandinho, marked 6.15, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Nova Iguaçu have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Leonardo David was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nova Iguaçu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nova Iguaçu.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Paulo Teixeira left the room before anybody could ask which.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Match19 May 2027
Diego Zalazar wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Diego Zalazar found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and América de Natal went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Squad24 May 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Luan Capanni for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Nova Iguaçu will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
In brief
SquadAndrey falls out with a teammate over standards
Raul was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 9.53 — 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Porto Vitória were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Xandinho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
A point taken on 95 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Raul trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Nova Iguaçu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davi Alves will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nova Iguaçu the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pedro Henrique and Nova Iguaçu agree another 2 years.
Pedro Henrique 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Raul 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Léo Rafael 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.
“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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Nova Iguaçu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Xandinho 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Nova Iguaçu
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Douglas Nogueira 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rodrigo Monteiro 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rodrygo Fonseca is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lucas Neves 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.
32 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Nova Iguaçu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Léo Rafael 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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Nova Iguaçu has been clear about where Matheus Miranda stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Xandinho signs something — a contract at Nova Iguaçu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nova Iguaçu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Nova Iguaçu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Léo Rafael 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.
Nobody at Nova Iguaçu 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.
Position 3, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Raul 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luan Capanni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nova Iguaçu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Pedro Henrique 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Léo Rafael 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Xandinho signs something — a contract at Nova Iguaçu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Nova Iguaçu will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nova Iguaçu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luan Capanni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Nova Iguaçu 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.
Raul 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Léo Rafael 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nova Iguaçu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matheus Matias trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Xandinho 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Raul and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
7 new faces, and Nova Iguaçu 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luan Capanni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Nova Iguaçu 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Xandinho signs something — a contract at Nova Iguaçu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Nova Iguaçu will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nova Iguaçu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Nova Iguaçu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Léo Rafael 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.
Nobody at Nova Iguaçu 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.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Nova Iguaçu would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bill trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Nova Iguaçu will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nova Iguaçu can pretend not to have heard.
Raul 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Léo Rafael 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nova Iguaçu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nova Iguaçu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Nova Iguaçu are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Nova Iguaçu will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 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.
He is 20, and nobody at Nova Iguaçu signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
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 Pedro Thomaz is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davi Alves will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nova Iguaçu the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nova Iguaçu had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Colón, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Lucas Cirilo is on it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Nova Iguaçu will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Position 3, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Nova Iguaçu had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The offer from Humaitá for Luan Capanni 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.
The name of Léo Rafael has come up in conversations Nova Iguaçu were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Xandinho 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Náutico have kept their man, and Nova Iguaçu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Nova Iguaçu know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Nova Iguaçu have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Xandinho 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 offer went to Santos 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
131% of the income goes out in wages at Nova Iguaçu
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nova Iguaçu have made the call to Náutico. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Alegria was one of the reasons people came, and $1.6M does not replace that by itself.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Goiânia have kept their man, and Nova Iguaçu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Arthur Neves 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ceará have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad21 Dec 2026
5 new faces, and Nova Iguaçu 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.
Vila Nova arrived with $410.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Philippe has gone, the accounts have $410.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Nova Iguaçu had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The offer from Maracanã for Matheus Miranda 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.
Pedro Henrique was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Antoniel Armoa has, at Nova Iguaçu, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The phone has started ringing about Matheus Matias again, and this time the name on the line is ASA. Nova Iguaçu are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Thomasel again, and this time the name on the line is Santa Cruz de Natal. Nova Iguaçu are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Athletico Paranaense have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Nova Iguaçu have made the call to Vitória. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Léo Rafael 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.
Position 3, 29 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Paulo Teixeira after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.92 beside his name.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A performance of 8.69 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Arthur Neves 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Paulo Teixeira, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Rafael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Nova Iguaçu 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.
The name of Bruno Souza keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nova Iguaçu say nothing, which says plenty.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
Supporters make their feelings known about Ruan Ribeiro
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Nova Iguaçu would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Mota was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nova Iguaçu.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Léo Rafael 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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nova Iguaçu, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Nova Iguaçu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Rio Branco made Nova Iguaçu work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Arthur Neves 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.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Nova Iguaçu know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wender was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Paulo Teixeira after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Wender trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Marked 8.98 — 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.
Arthur Neves 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ruan Ribeiro has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Nova Iguaçu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wender 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.
SquadThe division's best last weekend was a Nova Iguaçu man
11Edition
The Nova Iguaçu Courier
12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondentSteady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Arthur Neves 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Nova Iguaçu has been clear about where Philippe stands, which is more than many ever get.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mota’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Nova Iguaçu needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nova Iguaçu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruan Ribeiro signs something — a contract at Nova Iguaçu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
1‑4 to Portuguesa, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match3 Oct 2026
After 10 games, Nova Iguaçu finally taste it again
The first defeat in 10 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Portuguesa; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Nova Iguaçu dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wender was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Paulo Teixeira on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nova Iguaçu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Paulo Teixeira after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Luverdense in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Nova Iguaçu did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Léo Rafael was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wender was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Diego Zalazar 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.
It needed Léo Rafael to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Pouso Alegre, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paulo Teixeira was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Nova Iguaçu dressing room was either.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Diego Zalazar has just signed for Nova Iguaçu, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
He is 20, and nobody at Nova Iguaçu signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Fernandinho is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Pedro Thomaz is on it.
Porto Vitória will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Nova Iguaçu were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
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.
Marked 9.83 — 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.
Arthur Neves 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.40 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
In brief
Player ratingsXandinho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ruan Ribeiro is living that version at Nova Iguaçu, and it tends to show in the first month.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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 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.
Thomasel 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.
“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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paulo Teixeira was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Nova Iguaçu dressing room was either.
Porto Vitória next, and one man in the Nova Iguaçu dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Lucas Cruz obliged against Ferroviário. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Nova Iguaçu.
Mota 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
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.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paulo Teixeira was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Nova Iguaçu dressing room was either.
Ceilândia will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Nova Iguaçu were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A brace, and Fernandinho takes the afternoon — 8.01
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fernandinho provided it, and the 8.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Samuel Queiroz 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Henrique Queiroz is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Baiano 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Renato Batista 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.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Xandinho was at the centre of it, Aparecidense were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Xandinho provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Xandinho. 3‑2 against Aparecidense, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wender was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.