Marked for Kaká
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, Ohod do not lose
8 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Diego Ríos 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 Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market25 Jan 2027
The fee is $5.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Al-Mojzel drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 246% of everything Ohod 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.
Squad25 Jan 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Nobody could get near Kaká
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Awadh Khamis 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 Awadh Khamis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A defender's afternoon for Waleed Ayyash
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
151 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match16 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Ohod
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Ohod
Diego Ríos 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Kaká in the eights
A performance of 8.80 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad18 Jan 2027
55 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
No hiding place for Kattê
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kattê, and the manager let it.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kaká. 1‑0 against Al-Batin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The fee is $340.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Al-Ettifaq drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Diego Ríos 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 Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Nobody could get near Kaká
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match9 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, Ohod 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Jan 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
It needed Abdullah Al-Qahtani to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Damac, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Dec 2026
7 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Kaká 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 Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
362% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“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 ratings28 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Kaká
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Mohammad Amini 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Ohod
5 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bader Fallatah: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ohod have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Diego Ríos 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 Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 8.84 — 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Diego Ríos
“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 ratings14 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Kaká
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Dec 2026
Honours even between Ohod and Al-Nahda
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Timothy Atamenwan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Nov 2026
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ohod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match23 Nov 2026
Ohod sink to position 14
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ohod
Diego Ríos 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Kaká
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Leleco
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A mark of 5.55 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ohod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ohod
Kaká 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Kaká
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Abdullah Al-Qahtani’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ohod.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Kattê
“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 ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.42, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.38 — 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Ohod
Diego Ríos 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 9.53 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match24 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Al-Shoulla, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Fawaz Al-Hamad
“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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Nobody could get near Kaká
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 7 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 terraces19 Oct 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 28 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ohod have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Oct 2026
67 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Diego Ríos 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 Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Ohod against Al-Ta'ee
0‑2 to Al-Ta'ee, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Oct 2026
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
79 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Ohod are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Diego Ríos 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 Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Kaká runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Ohod, 2‑1 the final word against Al-Batin in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
521% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ohod
Diego Ríos 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 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Kattê
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kattê, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdullah Al-Zoari trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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Match
Ohod draw a blank against Damac
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Squad
The shirt belongs to Kaká now
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Sep 2026
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match19 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Ohod
7 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
97 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ohod
Matías Jones 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 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sattam Al-Ruqi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
One of those days for Kaká
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.53, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match19 Sep 2026
Honours even between Ohod and Al-Njoom
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Kattê knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
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Player ratings
Diego Ríos runs at them all day
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Player ratings
Sattam Al-Ruqi spends the afternoon fouling
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The terraces
The press have found their man in Kaká
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ohod
Diego Ríos 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Leleco
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Kaká
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Ohod will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 7 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
127 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Diego Ríos 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 Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Ríos, and the manager let it.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Al-Hazem leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market24 Aug 2026
Ohod have made Bader Fallatah available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market24 Aug 2026
Ohod bring in an old head
Kaká is 38 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Market24 Aug 2026
Experience through the door at Ohod
Leleco arrives at 37 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.