Ifeagwu Ojukwu 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ali Soliman 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Ali Soliman 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.
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.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al Gaish defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
4 goals in 18 games at Smouha — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ghazl El Mahalla updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Ahmed El Aash wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Ahmed El Aash found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Masr El Makasa went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
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 7.02 for the rest of it.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ghazl El Mahalla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ghazl El Mahalla told Ali Soliman something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Mahmoud Salah obliged against Smouha. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Ghazl El Mahalla.
Position 2, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ghazl El Mahalla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed El Sheikh 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Grendo. 1‑0 against El Dakhleya, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
Player ratingsOff the bench and decisive: Youssef Fawzi
Ifeagwu Ojukwu 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ali Soliman 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ali Soliman. 1‑0 against Ittihad, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Ali Soliman 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.
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.
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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ghazl El Mahalla will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ghazl El Mahalla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed El Sheikh 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.
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ghazl El Mahalla 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.
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ali Soliman wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Ali Soliman found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Wadi Degla went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Ali Soliman 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.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ali Soliman. 1‑0 against Wadi Degla, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdi Ineza did not need any: 7.89, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ifeagwu Ojukwu 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 had been thinking. Ahmed El Sheikh 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdi Ineza 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.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The fee is $510.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Masr El Makasa drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Ahmed Hamed Shousha 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Ali Soliman from Masr El Makasa for $510.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed El Sheikh 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.
“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 Masr El Makasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Emad El Nenny and Masr El Makasa agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ali Soliman has left for Ghazl El Mahalla in a $510.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahmoud Ezzat 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.
Add another name to the list: Wadi Degla have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ahmed Zizo. The answer from Masr El Makasa has not changed — yet.