From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Román Almanza is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
César Zárate 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
David Colmán 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 dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Erwin González
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Time is catching up with Sandino Sosa
Everybody at Pastoreo saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Market20 Sep 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alfredo Trejo has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Pastoreo.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Alfredo Trejo asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market20 Sep 2027
Pastoreo have made Jorge Samaniego available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market20 Sep 2027
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Pastoreo could get for him.
In brief
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The dugout
Luis Gamarra keeps his manager's vote
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Match
Nothing left to play for but pride at Pastoreo
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Sep 2027
Full time on the season at Pastoreo
Position 8 on 41 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
César Zárate and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match11 Sep 2027
At last: Pastoreo win one
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Fernando de la Mora. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Wages swallow 142% of the Pastoreo income
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 terraces13 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Luis Gamarra 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Ovejero, and the manager let it.
Match11 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Fernando Antúnez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Pastoreo.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The decline has begun for Jesús Araujo
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Pastoreo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Sep 2027
“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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Pastoreo
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
David Colmán 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 dugout6 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Alejandro Sosa
“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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Florencio Yudis is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Pastoreo trim $108.8K from the budget
The money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $108.8K, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Aug 2027
6 matches without a win for Pastoreo
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Pastoreo are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Aug 2027
César Zárate 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Pastoreo cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad30 Aug 2027
David Colmán 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Florencio Yudis, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Marked 7.30 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Pastoreo had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Adrian Gomez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Erwin González asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Aug 2027
“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.
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Pastoreo's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pastoreo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
César Zárate 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Aug 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 0‑1 Adrian Gomez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Román Almanza
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The plan did not have a place for Miguel Ovejero
Nobody at Pastoreo is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match14 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Pastoreo
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
César Zárate and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Wages swallow 154% of the Pastoreo income
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Pastoreo will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Luis Gamarra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Adrian Gomez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Luis Villegas 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 Luis Villegas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pastoreo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Gamarra and Pastoreo agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
David Colmán 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
The goal that put 12 de Junio ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Pastoreo equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Market9 Aug 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Freddy González has his answer from Pastoreo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The team sheet said everything about Florencio Yudis
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Florencio Yudis.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 7.80 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Pastoreo had the best player on the pitch.
Match7 Aug 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Aug 2027
César Zárate 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Gamarra and Pastoreo agree another 4 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market2 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jorge Peralta 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
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.
Market2 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hugo Cubas 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jose Enciso is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Florencio Yudis, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.86, and nobody on the pitch better.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Pastoreo close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
César Zárate 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 Jul 2027
David Colmán 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Parra, and the manager let it.
Market26 Jul 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Derlis Riveros has his answer from Pastoreo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match24 Jul 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Rubio Nu leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Pastoreo lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Jul 2027
José Ramírez hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pastoreo can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Libertad keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad19 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Wages swallow 172% of the Pastoreo income
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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Pastoreo make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match17 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Colmán. 1‑0 against Sportivo Ameliano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“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 ratings19 Jul 2027
Marked 7.79. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad12 Jul 2027
César Zárate 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 Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nacional have kept their man, and Pastoreo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match10 Jul 2027
A point taken on 93 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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Olimpia: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan move for Ángel Espínola is in the works
Pastoreo have made the call to Sportivo Luqueno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with Libertad, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
No thanks: Adrián Acosta rejects the move
Pastoreo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Libertad, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Villegas and Pastoreo agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“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 ratings5 Jul 2027
A mark of 7.82, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Pastoreo sign 6 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 2027
“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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
No thanks: Juan Iturbe rejects the move
Pastoreo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Cerro Porteno, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Libertad, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Erwin González has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Pastoreo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Erwin González, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Jun 2027
Nowhere to hide for Pastoreo
1‑4 against Sol de America, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Libertad is saying, and nobody at Pastoreo is enjoying the guessing.
Match19 Jun 2027
The run is over for Pastoreo
8 matches without defeat, and then Sol de America. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Guarani have kept their man, and Pastoreo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Wages eat 170% of everything Pastoreo earn
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The decline has begun for Jesús Araujo
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Pastoreo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Parra, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Pastoreo
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Christian Martínez is in the works
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Jun 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Pastoreo did not have in the autumn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad14 Jun 2027
David Colmán 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 terraces14 Jun 2027
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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francisco Pacher. 1‑0 against Encarnacion, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Francisco Pacher was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pastoreo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 Pastoreo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Libertad, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match5 Jun 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Pastoreo did not have in the autumn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Diego Velázquez and Pastoreo agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Florencio Yudis, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 May 2027
“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 Pastoreo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Match29 May 2027
Whatever happens, Pastoreo do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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 dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Freddy González
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Luis Gamarra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Wages eat 161% of everything Pastoreo earn
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.
Match22 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alejandro Sosa. 1‑0 against Fernando de la Mora, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of José Ramírez
“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.
Match24 May 2027
The half-term report on Pastoreo
Position 6, 22 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Adrian Gomez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout24 May 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pastoreo can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings17 May 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.62 for the rest of it.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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 dugout17 May 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Adrian Gomez could afford to be generous.
Squad17 May 2027
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Pastoreo have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Luis Gamarra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 May 2027
“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 Pastoreo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Luis Villegas
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings10 May 2027
David Colmán beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched César Zárate
7.39, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Pastoreo had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout10 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Adrian Gomez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad10 May 2027
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Francisco Pacher has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Match8 May 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Sportivo Carapegua will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings3 May 2027
A brace, and Francisco Pacher takes the afternoon — 8.90
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Francisco Pacher provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad3 May 2027
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Match1 May 2027
A 3‑1 win over General Caballero JLM, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces3 May 2027
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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Ninety minutes of Alexis Fernández at his very best
Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Pastoreo.
The dugout3 May 2027
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
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.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Adrian Gomez kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Florencio Yudis out for 24 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Luis Gamarra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Ovejero, and the manager let it.
Match24 Apr 2027
12 de Junio made Pastoreo work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Wages eat 131% of everything Pastoreo earn
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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 7.70. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Adrian Gomez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Florencio Yudis out for 31 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Guarani de Fram, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match19 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for Pastoreo
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match17 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Pastoreo's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pastoreo has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Luis Gamarra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match17 Apr 2027
Pastoreo cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
David Colmán 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Velázquez, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Pastoreo
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Miguel Ovejero asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Florencio Yudis out for 38 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Apr 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
The goals have deserted Pastoreo
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Pastoreo can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“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 ratings12 Apr 2027
Luis Gamarra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Adrian Gomez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match10 Apr 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rubio Nu defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 12, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Apr 2027
45 days out for Florencio Yudis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Everybody at Pastoreo saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of José Ramírez
“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 dugout5 Apr 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Adrian Gomez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Looking ahead5 Apr 2027
Rubio Nu next, and one man in the Pastoreo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
52 days out for Florencio Yudis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Freddy González
“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.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 102% of the Pastoreo income
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
59 days out for Florencio Yudis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Mar 2027
The decline has begun for Jesús Araujo
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Pastoreo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Florencio Yudis out for 66 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.33, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Román Almanza is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
David Colmán 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
A 2‑0 win over Deportivo Santani, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Villegas, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Adrian Gomez could afford to be generous.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
The leaders are next for Pastoreo
River Plate top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match3 Mar 2027
The small margins put Pastoreo out
Out, 1‑2 to Sportivo Luqueno, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miguel Ovejero and Pastoreo agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Guairena left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Francisco Parra
“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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Florencio Yudis out for 82 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexis Fernández, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Marked 7.62. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 89% of the Pastoreo income
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.
Match27 Feb 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Half-satisfied: Adrian Gomez on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The form table has caught Jesús Araujo
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
90 days out for Florencio Yudis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.16, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
David Colmán 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francisco Pacher. 2‑1 against Encarnacion, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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 dugout22 Feb 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Alexis Fernández asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
David Colmán beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match13 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Pastoreo's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pastoreo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Sportivo San Lorenzo left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Villegas, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
12 new faces, and Pastoreo are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout15 Feb 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 Adrian Gomez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Florencio Yudis out for 104 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A mark of 7.26, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Adrian Gomez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Pastoreo dressing room was either.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Pastoreo 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.
Looking ahead8 Feb 2027
The leaders are next for Pastoreo
Sportivo San Lorenzo top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Santiago Irala
“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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Point won or two lost for Pastoreo?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Independiente CG? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead8 Feb 2027
Sportivo San Lorenzo next, and one man in the Pastoreo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
111 days out for Florencio Yudis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
José Ramírez breaks a bone — 63 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Colmán 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Derlis Riveros
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pastoreo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules José Ramírez out for 70 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Miguel Ovejero 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Derlis Riveros
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pastoreo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules José Ramírez out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Derlis Riveros
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pastoreo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules José Ramírez out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexis Fernández trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Derlis Riveros damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad28 Dec 2026
93 days out for José Ramírez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
The deal with Guarani is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
José Ramírez breaks a bone — 100 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Pastoreo asked and Sportivo Luqueno said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market21 Dec 2026
A stepping stone, not a home, for Luis Villegas
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Pastoreo were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
José Ramírez gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Guarani 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.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
A loan enquiry to Libertad: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Derlis Riveros
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pastoreo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules José Ramírez out for 107 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A move Fernando Antúnez would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Fernando Antúnez is living that version at Pastoreo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roberto Lopez 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Pastoreo have made the call to Libertad. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Pastoreo have made the call to Sportivo Luqueno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad7 Dec 2026
José Ramírez breaks a bone — 114 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
The deal with Olimpia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
Derlis Riveros damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad30 Nov 2026
José Ramírez breaks a bone — 121 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Nov 2026
46 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Derlis Riveros
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pastoreo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad23 Nov 2026
129 days out for José Ramírez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Juan Núñez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
136 days out for José Ramírez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Florencio Yudis 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.
In brief
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Squad
10 new faces, and Pastoreo are still learning each other
-
The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Derlis Riveros
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad9 Nov 2026
José Ramírez breaks a bone — 144 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 144 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Pastoreo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Colmán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to José Ramírez, and the manager let it.
Market9 Nov 2026
Lucas Aquino is 17, and Pastoreo have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad2 Nov 2026
151 days out for José Ramírez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Florencio Yudis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
In brief
-
Squad
Words at Pastoreo training over how hard people work
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The dugout
José Ramírez asks for a word with the manager
-
Market
Pastoreo bring in an old head
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Miguel Ovejero 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
114 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Oct 2026
57 days out for Alberto Martínez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The decline has begun for Juan Núñez
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Pastoreo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Market19 Oct 2026
“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.
Market19 Oct 2026
At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Oct 2026
64 days out for Alberto Martínez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sandino Sosa commits to Pastoreo for another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
128 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pastoreo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Juan Núñez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Derlis Riveros damages knee ligaments — 135 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 135 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad28 Sep 2026
80 days out for Alberto Martínez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Derlis Riveros 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Chamorro
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pastoreo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Alberto Martínez out for 87 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pastoreo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Diego Chamorro damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Miguel Ovejero pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Market14 Sep 2026
A stepping stone, not a home, for Juan Núñez
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Pastoreo were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Núñez and Pastoreo agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Adrian Gomez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Market14 Sep 2026
At 37, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Chamorro
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pastoreo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Sep 2026
101 days out for Alberto Martínez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pastoreo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pastoreo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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Squad
Pastoreo are still strangers to each other
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Looking ahead
Home comforts ahead for Pastoreo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Miguel Ovejero 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
River Plate left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Caballero, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad31 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Pastoreo have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Roberto Gimenez, 14, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Pastoreo would like this to lead.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
At 14 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Roberto Gimenez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Pastoreo.
Squad24 Aug 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Pastoreo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market24 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
7.41, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Pastoreo had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Roberto Gomez and Pastoreo agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Adrian Gomez could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Pastoreo out
Out, 0‑4 to Sportivo Luqueno, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
0-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 5 of the 23 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Pastoreo
Miguel Ovejero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Guairena, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Erwin González
“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.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Pastoreo were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
He is 14 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roberto Gomez 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Antonio Cubas 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ivan Gimenez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Oscar Gomez 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Pastoreo 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
The dugout3 Aug 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.” Adrian Gomez, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Market3 Aug 2026
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Maximiliano Gauto leaves Pastoreo the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.