Bassem Marwan

Right Midfielder - Masr El Makasa
4 Dec 2027
Saturday
Process

Marked for Bassem Marwan

65 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Trezeguet Hegazi hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Masr El Makasa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ramadan Warda 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.

Squad

Bassem Marwan has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Masr El Makasa against Ismaily

1‑2 to Ismaily, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

No hiding place for Emad El Wensh

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emad El Wensh, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Valentino Pereyra

Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

The Ramadan Warda story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ramadan Warda signs something — a contract at Masr El Makasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Player ratings

Trezeguet Hegazi could not find anything

5.68. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

In brief

Back issues
64 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Bassem Marwan breaks a bone — 15 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

El Sayed Abo Amna: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Masr El Makasa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Squad

Valentino Pereyra 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Masr El Makasa see off Haras El Hodoud

Three points for Masr El Makasa, 2‑0 the final word against Haras El Hodoud in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Emad El Wensh in the eights

A performance of 8.51 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Trezeguet Hegazi

Marked 8.25 — 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.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Dokou Dodo

Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Atef El Hakim

Marked 5.71, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

63 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bassem Marwan breaks a bone — 22 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

4 matches without a win for Masr El Makasa

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Masr El Makasa against El Masry

1‑2 to El Masry, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Dokou Dodo 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Aqtay Abdallah

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aqtay Abdallah, and the manager let it.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Emad El Wensh

He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Omar Elneny

Marked 5.48, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Mohamed Abdelmaguid

Marked 5.68, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

62 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bassem Marwan breaks a bone — 29 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Walid Gabr stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Walid Gabr and Masr El Makasa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

Aqtay Abdallah’s goal not enough for Masr El Makasa

Aqtay Abdallah scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Aswan, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Dokou Dodo 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.

Player ratings

Omar Elneny could not find anything

4.45. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

In brief

61 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Bassem Marwan breaks a bone — 38 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Trezeguet Hegazi hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Masr El Makasa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Bassem Marwan has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Valentino Pereyra 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.

Player ratings

Valentino Pereyra runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Ramadan Warda was the difference for Masr El Makasa

Marked 7.18. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Match

Masr El Makasa draw a blank against Al Gaish

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.

Player ratings

Salah Zaki could have had three

9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

In brief

60 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Bassem Marwan breaks a bone — 45 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Cup progress for Masr El Makasa

A 3‑2 win over Military Production, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Cruel end for Military Production as Masr El Makasa pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Masr El Makasa scored in the 124th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Market

Omar Elneny asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Player ratings

Omar El Nenny, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.05

A mark of 8.05 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Masr El Makasa — 7.84

1 for El Sayed Ashour, marked 7.84, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Squad

Bruno Salgado is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.

Squad

Ramadan Warda 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Trezeguet Hegazi has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

In brief

59 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Bassem Marwan out for 53 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Masr El Makasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

El Sayed Ashour asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Squad

Real improvement from Omar Abdelaziz at Masr El Makasa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Omar Abdelaziz is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ramadan Warda 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.

Squad

A late step up for Aqtay Abdallah

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Match

Masr El Makasa come up short against Zamalek

Zamalek left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Walid Gabr could not find anything

5.36. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Valentino Pereyra

A mark of 5.67 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Aqtay Abdallah

A mark of 5.79 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

58 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Bassem Marwan out for 60 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Masr El Makasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Masr El Makasa tear El Dakhleya apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against El Dakhleya, and it could have been more.

Squad

Atef El Hakim keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Masr El Makasa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Real improvement from Dokou Dodo at Masr El Makasa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dokou Dodo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Ramadan Warda 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Shikabala Hassan

At 22 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.

Player ratings

Emad El Wensh in the eights

A performance of 8.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Salah Zaki

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Market

Bassem Marwan is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Masr El Makasa has been clear about where Bassem Marwan stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

57 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Bassem Marwan out for 67 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Masr El Makasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Masr El Makasa

A 0‑4 beating by Al Ahly was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Market

Trezeguet Hegazi puts it in writing

“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.

Match

4 matches without a win for Masr El Makasa

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Valentino Pereyra has improved at 24, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Valentino Pereyra 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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Masr El Makasa dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Player ratings

Emad El Wensh runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

56 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Bassem Marwan out for 74 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Masr El Makasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Omar Elneny puts it in writing

“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.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 28 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Dokou Dodo 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.

Squad

Trezeguet Hegazi has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

The terraces

$39.0K for Mohamed Abdelmaguid, and Masr El Makasa supporters approve

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: Mohamed Abdelmaguid from Military Production for $39.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

Masr El Makasa come up short against Ittihad

Ittihad left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

Masr El Makasa bring in an old head

Mohamed Abdelmaguid is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.

In brief

55 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mohamed El Nenny

63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Bassem Marwan breaks a bone — 82 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

El Sayed Ashour puts it in writing

“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.

Market

Masr El Makasa say no — this time

The offer from Hajer for Trezeguet Hegazi 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.

Squad

Bruno Salgado is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.

Squad

Dokou Dodo 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

54 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mohamed El Nenny

70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Bassem Marwan out for 90 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Masr El Makasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Masr El Makasa say no — this time

The offer from Haras El Hodoud for Dokou Dodo 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.

Market

Omar Soliman puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Real improvement from Dokou Dodo at Masr El Makasa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dokou Dodo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Bassem Marwan stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Bassem Marwan and Masr El Makasa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

53 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mohamed El Nenny damages knee ligaments — 78 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.

Squad

Bassem Marwan breaks a bone — 98 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Boardroom

Ahmed Marwan has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Masr El Makasa can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Boardroom

The Masr El Makasa board call everybody in

Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ramadan Warda 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.

Squad

A late step up for Bassem Marwan

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

In brief

41 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Dokou Dodo asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Squad

Bassem Marwan says Masr El Makasa went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

In brief

20 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

10 matches without a win for Masr El Makasa

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.

Market

Dokou Dodo puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Nicolò Castelli keeps Masr El Makasa in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

Player ratings

Ali Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Valentino Pereyra

“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.

Match

Masr El Makasa draw a blank against Ittihad

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Ittihad defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Mohamed El Nenny

Marked 5.26, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

19 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

9 matches without a win for Masr El Makasa

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.

Market

Nicolò Castelli puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Shikabala Hassan says Masr El Makasa went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Ali Ashour wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Ali Ashour 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Masr El Makasa against Arab Contractors

2‑3 to Arab Contractors, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

18 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bassem Marwan damages knee ligaments — 34 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.

Market

Ali Ashour asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Masr El Makasa's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Masr El Makasa has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Masr El Makasa

Position 16 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Squad

No hiding place for El Sayed Ashour

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to El Sayed Ashour, and the manager let it.

In brief

17 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Masr El Makasa let it slip despite Abdallah Warda

Abdallah Warda had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and ENPPI were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.

Market

Omar Elneny puts it in writing

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Masr El Makasa's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Masr El Makasa has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Ali Marwan keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Masr El Makasa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Ali Ashour 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Dokou Dodo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dokou Dodo, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ramadan Warda

Marked 8.03 — 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.

Player ratings

Ali Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

16 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

6 matches without a win for Masr El Makasa

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.

Market

Mohamed Ghaly asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Emad El Wensh gets it from the manager

“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.

Player ratings

Emad Hegazi could not find anything

3.26. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

Match

Trezeguet Hegazi rescues a point for Masr El Makasa

It needed Trezeguet Hegazi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Petrojet, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

15 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Trezeguet Hegazi asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Masr El Makasa's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Masr El Makasa has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Ali Ashour 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Player ratings

Ramadan Warda was immovable

19 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Masr El Makasa

8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

No goals between Masr El Makasa and Military Production

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Military Production will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

14 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bassem Marwan damages knee ligaments — 64 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.

Market

Nicolò Castelli asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Masr El Makasa

Position 16 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Market

El Sayed Ashour 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 Masr El Makasa hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Match

No end in sight to Masr El Makasa's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Masr El Makasa has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Nicolò Castelli 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Masr El Makasa come up short against Smouha

Smouha left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Nicolò Castelli gets it from the manager

“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

13 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Bassem Marwan damages knee ligaments — 71 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.

Market

Ali Ashour puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nicolò Castelli

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Ali Ashour 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Abdallah Warda

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Masr El Makasa hit back inside 4 minutes

Wadi Degla held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Masr El Makasa answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.

Match

Aqtay Abdallah rescues a point for Masr El Makasa

It needed Aqtay Abdallah to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Wadi Degla, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

12 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bassem Marwan damages knee ligaments — 78 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 78 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 terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 30 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Player ratings

Ali Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Masr El Makasa against Ismaily

0‑1 to Ismaily, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Dieudonné Noumonvi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dieudonné Noumonvi and Masr El Makasa agree another 3 years.

Player ratings

An afternoon Mohamed El Nenny will want back

Marked 5.29. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Emad Hegazi

Marked 5.35, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

11 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Ali Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ali Ashour 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Emad El Wensh

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emad El Wensh, and the manager let it.

Match

Masr El Makasa come up short against Haras El Hodoud

Haras El Hodoud left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

Masr El Makasa buy the years ahead of Hossam Hassan

He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Player ratings

Mohamed El Nenny never got going

5.04 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Player ratings

An afternoon Walid Gabr will want back

Marked 5.60. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.

In brief

10 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Mohamed Ghaly asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Bruno Salgado at Masr El Makasa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bruno Salgado is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

Masr El Makasa find a way past El Masry

El Masry made Masr El Makasa work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The terraces

Masr El Makasa supporters have found a favourite in Aqtay Abdallah

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Aqtay Abdallah 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.

Player ratings

Aqtay Abdallah was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.74. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

9 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Ali Ashour hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Masr El Makasa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nicolò Castelli

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

5 matches without a win for Masr El Makasa

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Ali Ashour 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 Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaiah Ejeh 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Ramadan Warda

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Match

Masr El Makasa draw a blank against Aswan

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Aswan defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

8 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

The cup run ends for Masr El Makasa

1‑2 against El Dakhleya, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 12 of the 28 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Player ratings

A first appearance Ibrahim Kahraba will want to forget — 5.44

Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.44, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.

Match

4 matches without a win for Masr El Makasa

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

Player ratings

Ali Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

Masr El Makasa come up short against Al Gaish

Al Gaish left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

7 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bassem Marwan

114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

El Sayed Ashour wants more than Masr El Makasa are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Aqtay Abdallah signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Aqtay Abdallah commits to Masr El Makasa for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Nicolò Castelli 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.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

Masr El Makasa come up short against Police Union

Police Union left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Ali Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

The Nicolò Castelli talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Masr El Makasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Isaiah Ejeh joins Masr El Makasa to strengthen the squad

Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Masr El Makasa have gone and got theirs early.

In brief

6 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

$180.0K — a new record at Masr El Makasa

No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.

Squad

Bassem Marwan damages knee ligaments — 122 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 122 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.

Market

Mohamed Ghaly asks to leave Masr El Makasa

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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 terraces

Masr El Makasa spend $180.0K on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $180.0K for Aqtay Abdallah, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Squad

El Sayed Abo Amna signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” El Sayed Abo Amna and Masr El Makasa agree another 2 years.

Squad

The manager makes an example of El Sayed Ashour

“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 ratings

One of those days for Ali Ashour

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Market

Masr El Makasa and Dokou Dodo are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

In brief

5 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Bassem Marwan damages knee ligaments — 129 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 129 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.

Market

Mohamed El Nenny puts it in writing

“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.

Market

Masr El Makasa sign El Sayed Abo Amna for $140.0K

The paperwork is done: El Sayed Abo Amna joins from Arab Contractors in a deal worth $140.0K. Now comes the harder part.

The terraces

$140.0K for El Sayed Abo Amna, and Masr El Makasa supporters approve

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: El Sayed Abo Amna from Arab Contractors for $140.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.

Squad

Emad El Wensh 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.

Market

Masr El Makasa sell Mohamed Elneny for $17.0K

Mohamed Elneny has left for Police Union in a $17.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Match

Masr El Makasa get the job done against El Dakhleya

A 2‑1 win over El Dakhleya, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Bassem Marwan

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.88, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Trezeguet Hegazi was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.15. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

4 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Fathy Elneny moves on

PAOK pay $5.7M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 24 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Market

Salah Kahraba hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Masr El Makasa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ali Ashour 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ali Ashour

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emad El Wensh 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Masr El Makasa against Al Ahly

0‑1 to Al Ahly, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

The Salah Zaki conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Umraniyespor will make the call about Salah Zaki this week. Masr El Makasa have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

No hiding place for Salah Zaki

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salah Zaki, and the manager let it.

In brief