Marked for Aboubakkar Moussa
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Ta'ee may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Ta'ee training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Halilović 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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-Ta'ee this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Al-Ta'ee against Damac
0‑1 to Damac, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“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 ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 7. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Dec 2026
Al-Ta'ee win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Al-Njoom will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Luis Haquín 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-Ta'ee this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Ta'ee training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Halilović 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 terraces7 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Aboubakkar Moussa 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Omar El Hanoudi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al-Ta'ee.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Jonata Machado
“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 ratings7 Dec 2026
A mark of 7.38, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Al-Ta'ee told Rayan Al-Sharekh something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 39. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Óscar Opazo breaks a bone — 113 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 113 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Sep 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Al-Ahli say no — this time
The offer from Al-Riyadh for Aboubakkar Moussa was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Feras Al-Brikan has come up in conversations Al-Ahli were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Franck Kessié 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.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Ittihad are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Al-Ahli will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Zakaria Hawsawi 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market24 Aug 2026
Al-Ahli say no — this time
The offer from Krasnodar for Ivan Toney was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Galeno 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-Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franck Kessié 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Three points for Al-Ahli, 1‑0 the final word against Al-Taawoun in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market24 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Al-Ahli will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
The afternoon belonged to Ivan Toney
7.75, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Al-Ahli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Al-Hazem come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Ahli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Roger Ibañez 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-Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
Eduard Spertsyan wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Ahli hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Eduard Spertsyan and Al-Ahli agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Spertsyan 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.
Squad10 Aug 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.
In brief
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Market
Damac are about to pick up the phone
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Market
Yazan Madani is free to find somewhere else