It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Vinícius Fávero plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Umar Abubakar 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sampaio Correa, another week without a signature from Felipe Cauã.
Words at Sampaio Correa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mazerochi 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sampaio Correa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Sampaio Correa training over how hard people work
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sampaio Correa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Lucas Macedo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The 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 Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Sampaio Correa the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Adriano Rodrigues has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Gustavo Furtado was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Lucas Macedo plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
In brief
SquadLucas Macedo is training like a man with a point to make
7Edition
The Sampaio Correa Herald
14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondentCrisis
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 4 of the 20 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Sampaio Correa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mazerochi 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 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 young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Sampaio Correa who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jardson is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Pedro Emanuel 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Felipe Cauã, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Sampaio Correa man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Daniel Mazerochi was the best thing in any of them.
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.
Lucas Macedo 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.
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 8.14 — 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.
0-3, 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.
7.30, 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.
Daniel Mazerochi 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.
1‑4 to Criciuma, 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.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 5 of the 20 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Daniel Mazerochi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Neto has his answer from Sampaio Correa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sampaio Correa, another week without a signature from Gui Franca.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Mazerochi and Sampaio Correa agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sampaio Correa has been clear about where Matheus Soares stands, which is more than many ever get.
The goal that put Atletico Goianiense ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Sampaio Correa equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.