“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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Masr El Makasa people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Haras El Hodoud, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cruzeiro keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Ali Hassan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salah Hassan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Defensa y Justicia is saying, and nobody at Masr El Makasa is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Marked 6.81 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salah Hassan 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Masr El Makasa asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Yasser El Nenny was one of the reasons people came, and $380.0K does not replace that by itself.
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 chase for Atef El Hakim ended with $46.0K changing hands and Ghazl El Mahalla out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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: Atef El Hakim from Ghazl El Mahalla for $46.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Salah Hassan 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. El Masry have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Masr El Makasa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aswan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Masr El Makasa and Ghazl El Mahalla have settled on $46.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Corinthians is saying, and nobody at Masr El Makasa is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salah Hassan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Masr El Makasa and Al Ahly, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Al Ahly left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Salah Hassan 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Walid Ghaly will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Masr El Makasa escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
“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.
“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.
Ali Hassan 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salah Hassan 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Masr El Makasa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mostafa Soliman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Masr El Makasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salah Hassan 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
1-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mostafa Soliman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Masr El Makasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Marked 9.98 — 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salah Hassan 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 point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ahmed Fouad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salah Hassan 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Hossam Elneny could afford to be generous.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Masr El Makasa told Yasser El Nenny something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Masr El Makasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Masr El Makasa and Aswan in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
35 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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.
At 21 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ali Hassan 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. El Masry moved on, Yasser El Nenny reports back to Masr El Makasa, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 14 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Masr El Makasa until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Masr El Makasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Masr El Makasa have done the hard part with Boca Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mostafa Soliman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Masr El Makasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Emad El Shenawy has agreed terms with Wadi Degla for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chibueze Oputa and Masr El Makasa agree another 5 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.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ali Mohsen is on it.
Ali Hassan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salah Hassan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ES Setif have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Masr El Makasa will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Orlando Pirates 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Masr El Makasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Olympique Akbou had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Masr El Makasa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Santos, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Chibueze Oputa 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 Salah Hassan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
“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.
Ali Hassan 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salah Hassan 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cruzeiro have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Masr El Makasa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
A loan enquiry to Santos: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad28 Jun 2027
5 new faces, and Masr El Makasa are still learning each other
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mohamed Raafat
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have shaken hands with El Masry; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Masr El Makasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mahmoud Tarek has agreed terms with Police Union for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
“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.
“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.
Chibueze Oputa 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 goals in 24 games at MC Oran — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Masr El Makasa updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Omar Tarek is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Masr El Makasa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nobody at Masr El Makasa will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Masr El Makasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ali Hassan 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Salah Hassan 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Shikabala El Shenawy and Masr El Makasa agree another 3 years.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say El Sayed Kahraba is on it.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Masr El Makasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Masr El Makasa would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alan Villarruel is living that version at Masr El Makasa, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Masr El Makasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salah Hassan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Salah Hassan is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ibrahim Warda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ramadan El Wensh leaves Masr El Makasa the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Ali Hassan 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Cemran Dansin 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.
Nobody at Masr El Makasa will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Masr El Makasa will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“For the first time in years I am picked because somebody wants me in the team.” MC Oran suits him; the awkward conversation belongs to Masr El Makasa, and the summer will force it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Omar Elneny has written the date down.
“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.
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salah Hassan 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.
14 goals in 24 games at MC Oran — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Masr El Makasa updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Hossam Elneny chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Nobody at Masr El Makasa will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Masr El Makasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cemran Dansin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Shikabala El Shenawy 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 Hassan. 1‑0 against ENPPI, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
26 appearances at MC Oran and the goals keep coming. Masr El Makasa are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.” Hossam Elneny, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mostafa Soliman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Masr El Makasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Masr El Makasa and Wadi Degla in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Cemran Dansin 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mostafa Soliman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Masr El Makasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Marked 9.94 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and El Sayed Kahraba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Masr El Makasa asked and Grêmio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$2.4M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Masr El Makasa people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Chibueze Oputa is living that version at Masr El Makasa, and it tends to show in the first month.
He is going to Zamalek, the club has $2.4M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The deal with Petrojet is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Masr El Makasa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bahia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Ali Hassan 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Cemran Dansin 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.
Ali Hassan 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cemran Dansin 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
8.14. 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Petrojet scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
In brief
The dugoutSalah Hassan is still being punished for one mistake
“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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Aqtay Abdallah has just signed for Masr El Makasa, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Cemran Dansin 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Masr El Makasa can tell you which week it ends in.
Trezeguet Hassan 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.
“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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ogbu Ogechukwu has, at Masr El Makasa, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Masr El Makasa have done the hard part with Ghazl El Mahalla, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Ali Hassan 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.
Masr El Makasa have gone to Ghazl El Mahalla with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Salah Hassan 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bragantino have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.