The Al Shaab Sentinel
Match21 Sep 2030
Al Shaab leave it late against Baniyas
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Baniyas spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Match21 Sep 2030
At last: Al Shaab win one
9 matches without a win, and then this, against Baniyas. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Words exchanged at Al Shaab
Erik 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.
Market23 Sep 2030
Ibrahim Obaid is a Al Shaab player again
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
Nobody could get near Asher Agbinone
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Sep 2030
Hamdan Ismail sends Al Shaab past Baniyas
It finished 1‑0, and it was Hamdan Ismail’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al Shaab.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
The afternoon belonged to Hamdan Ismail
A mark of 7.99, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
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.” Interim Coach, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
No hiding place for Elias Sagna
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elias Sagna, and the manager let it.
In brief
- Squad Khalifa Mubarak falls out with a teammate over standards
- Squad Hamdan Ismail scores his first for Al Shaab
- Squad Home comes calling for Ibrahim Obaid