The Santa Cruz Chronicle
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Eron runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Renato signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Renato commits to Santa Cruz for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Santa Cruz
Robinho 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 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Santa Cruz against Criciuma
0‑1 to Criciuma, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no ink between Santa Cruz and Robinho
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Santa Cruz, another week without a signature from Robinho.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Santa Cruz
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
João Cavalcante answers for it
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
No hiding place for William Alves
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to William Alves, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The formation has left Vitão behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Santa Cruz will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
- Market Nobody at Santa Cruz has picked up the phone to Balotelli
- Looking ahead The leaders are next for Santa Cruz
- Looking ahead Renato faces his old club