Marked for Pedrinho
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces19 Jun 2028
The mood at El Dakhleya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad19 Jun 2028
The knee: Mohamed Rizk out for 48 days
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. El Dakhleya lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. El Dakhleya have done the hard part with Ittihad, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Sherif Dabo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ghazl El Mahalla have kept their man, and El Dakhleya go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Moaz Ateya 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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
ENPPI 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 targets19 Jun 2028
Al Ahly 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.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Mohamed Rizk 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
Sherif Dabo 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at El Dakhleya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moaz Ateya 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 dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Reda Mohamed, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 May 2028
Pedrinho gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Pedrinho is on it.
Squad15 May 2028
Pedrinho remains an outsider
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at El Dakhleya would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Squad15 May 2028
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at El Dakhleya says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
Market15 May 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Dakhleya, another week without a signature from Fares Khlaed.
Loan watch15 May 2028
16 appearances at Ismaily and the goals keep coming. El Dakhleya are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market15 May 2028
The clock does Donté Apinsa’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee El Dakhleya could ask drops and the wages Donté Apinsa can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Apr 2028
12 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
0‑3 against Arab Contractors, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom1 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at El Dakhleya
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at El Dakhleya is running low.
Market1 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El Dakhleya can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El Dakhleya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout1 May 2028
Bernardo Grezel: 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.” El Dakhleya have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 May 2028
Sherif Dabo 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moaz Ateya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Pedrinho
“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
Crisis
Match15 Apr 2028
10 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Mahmoud Alaa 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Everybody at El Dakhleya saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
0‑2 to ENPPI, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Shika was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“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 Apr 2028
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 0‑2 Walid Sobhi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Pedrinho gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Pedrinho is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Mar 2028
There were 12 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
No end in sight to El Dakhleya's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El Dakhleya has to find a result from somewhere.
Market20 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Sherif Dabo 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Mar 2028
Smouha left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Shika was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
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 dugout20 Mar 2028
“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 dugout20 Mar 2028
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 0‑2 Walid Sobhi left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
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The dugout
A promise honoured for Pedrinho
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Squad
Mohamed Hamad, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
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The dugout
When it matters, Pedrinho plays
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
Market21 Feb 2028
Cebisa Ndlovu 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 El Dakhleya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Sherif Dabo 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Feb 2028
Pedrinho among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Pedrinho on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of El Dakhleya and El Masry.
Match19 Feb 2028
El Masry left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at El Dakhleya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Shika 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 dugout21 Feb 2028
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 2‑4 Walid Sobhi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“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 dugout21 Feb 2028
When it matters, Pedrinho plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Jan 2028
Police Union will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑3, every duel lost, and a long ride home. El Dakhleya were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The terraces31 Jan 2028
The mood at El Dakhleya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Pedrinho scores twice — 7.81
Two goals and a mark of 7.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
No sign of nerves from Mohamed Hamad at 19 — 8.34
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mohamed Hamad did not need any: 8.34, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Age has not caught Mohamed Shika yet — 8.14
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.14 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Mahmoud Alaa pops up at the right end — 7.46
7.46, 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El Dakhleya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with Zamalek, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match29 Jan 2028
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Police Union. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jan 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market17 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around El Dakhleya people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match17 Jan 2028
El Dakhleya are in real trouble now
Position 16, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match15 Jan 2028
No end in sight to El Dakhleya's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El Dakhleya has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with El Masry, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Sherif Dabo 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.
Match15 Jan 2028
0‑2 to Zamalek, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Shika was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at El Dakhleya can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Dec 2027
Chastening afternoon for El Dakhleya
A 0‑3 beating by ENPPI was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Sherif Dabo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Shika was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout13 Dec 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 0‑3 Walid Sobhi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at El Dakhleya, and it is a cruel one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
Sherif Dabo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at El Dakhleya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Shika 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahmoud El Alamy, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Pedrinho gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Pedrinho is on it.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mosaad Awad’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and El Dakhleya needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Pedrinho remains an outsider
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at El Dakhleya would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and El Dakhleya will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market15 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mosaad Awad may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El Dakhleya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Sherif Dabo 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 32 days on the sidelines for Nader Ramadan, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad11 Oct 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 4 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Mohamed Shika 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout11 Oct 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
When it matters, Pedrinho plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Sep 2027
Police Union go through and El Dakhleya go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
A brace, and Anwar Abdelsalam takes the afternoon — 8.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anwar Abdelsalam provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad20 Sep 2027
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Match18 Sep 2027
No end in sight to El Dakhleya's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El Dakhleya has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from Pedrinho at 21 — 7.89
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Pedrinho did not need any: 7.89, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match18 Sep 2027
No clean sheets in sight for El Dakhleya
6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Mahmoud Alaa 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 terraces20 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Anwar Abdelsalam 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.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
The window shuts on the Sobhy Soliman deal
El Dakhleya ran out of time with Ittihad. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 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 targets21 Jun 2027
$47.0K settles it between the clubs for Mohamed Shehata
El Masry have accepted the money. What El Dakhleya do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market21 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and El Dakhleya did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market21 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El Dakhleya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Mohamed Niaré 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 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahmoud Alaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I want to play”: Pedrinho speaks
“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.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fares Khlaed, and the manager let it.
Market21 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Dakhleya, another week without a signature from Fares Khlaed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Jun 2027
El Dakhleya are in real trouble now
Position 17, 23 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Police Union waiting with a shirt. Nobody at El Dakhleya is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market14 Jun 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 El Dakhleya can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Mohamed El Araby has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at El Dakhleya is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Pedrinho signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Pedrinho commits to El Dakhleya for another 4 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Mahmoud Alaa 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$9.0K on the table at Smouha. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market14 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. El Dakhleya have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahmoud Wahid was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Anger at El Dakhleya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market7 Jun 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 El Dakhleya can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Jun 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El Dakhleya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Pressure builds in the El Dakhleya boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Ahly is saying, and nobody at El Dakhleya is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Sherif Dabo 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at El Dakhleya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahmoud Alaa 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
El Dakhleya asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Pedrinho
“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
The dugout31 May 2027
Pedrinho keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” El Dakhleya may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2027
Sherif Dabo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Thiago Campaño arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Thiago Campaño has, at El Dakhleya, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad31 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahmoud Alaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2027
Mahmoud Alaa is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad31 May 2027
The formation has left Cebisa Ndlovu behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. El Dakhleya will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout31 May 2027
Mohamed Shika 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.
Market31 May 2027
The clock does Mahmoud Wahid’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee El Dakhleya could ask drops and the wages Mahmoud Wahid can ask rise.
Market31 May 2027
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Cebisa Ndlovu arrives at El Dakhleya with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 May 2027
23 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad3 May 2027
Mahmoud Alaa 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Mahmoud Wahid pulls a muscle — 20 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 20 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Match1 May 2027
Mohamed Shika scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Ittihad, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ziad Farag was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
Pedrinho wants to go home
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at El Dakhleya can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout3 May 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout3 May 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout3 May 2027
No place for Pedrinho on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at El Dakhleya pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.