Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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 ENPPI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adham Farid was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fathy Hassan after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Emad Mayhoub’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ENPPI needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutAhmed Kofta asks for a word with the manager
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kahraba provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around ENPPI they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ahmed Nader Hawash 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.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
7 goals in one match, Ammar Hamdy on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of ENPPI and Military Production.
Marked 8.41 — 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. ENPPI have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ENPPI can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Ahmed Sabeha 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.
Arab Contractors 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.
Bayelsa United 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mohamed Samir
The dugoutAhmed Kofta knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 50 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ENPPI can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Petrojet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at ENPPI is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Everything agreed with Arab Contractors, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and ENPPI go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ahmed Sabeha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Emad Mayhoub 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 96 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
Mohanad Bakri 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ENPPI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ramadan El Mohamady has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Amr Hassan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mostafa El Hadary is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Salah Salah is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Hathout was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ENPPI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Youssef Labib are not good
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ENPPI can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.52 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The phone has started ringing about Ziad Kamal again, and this time the name on the line is Al Ahly. ENPPI are listening politely and promising nothing.
Rafik Kabou 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ES Setif have kept their man, and ENPPI go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
Player ratingsKahraba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Rafik Kabou 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Hathout was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 6.99 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Fathy Hassan could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Ahmed Kofta
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ENPPI lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ENPPI can pretend not to have heard.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ENPPI 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fathy Hassan after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Smouha will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rafik Kabou. 3‑2 against Smouha, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.40 — 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.
Chances created: 12. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at ENPPI, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Fathy Hassan, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kahraba provided it, and the 9.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Kahraba scored in the 88th minute, Aswan had already begun thinking about the journey home, and ENPPI took the lot.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.70 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.96 for the rest of it.
Rafik Kabou 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kahraba. 4‑3 against Aswan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Arafat Masoud 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.