The Al Jazira Herald
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Milson runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market11 Jan 2027
Al Fujairah come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al Jazira did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
Anwar Moutawafiq signs for Al Dhafra while still at Al Jazira
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Anwar Moutawafiq has agreed terms with Al Dhafra for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Willyan Rocha 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 Al Jazira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Al Jazira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milson 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
One of those days for Mamadou Coulibaly
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
The crowd has taken to Mamadou Coulibaly
At 23 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Mamadou Coulibaly
5 goals and a season average of 7.42 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match9 Jan 2027
No time for Sharjah to settle
The goal that put Sharjah ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Al Jazira equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
In brief
- Squad The manager has not finished forgetting Ali Khaseif's mistake
- Match Mamadou Coulibaly rescues a point for Al Jazira
- Market The Igor Serrote question follows Al Jazira around