Ramadan Ashour

Right Wingback - Masr El Makasa
27 Sep 2027
Monday
Process

Marked for Ramadan Ashour

60 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ashraf Mohsen

Successful dribbles: 67. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Real improvement from Karamoko Bamba at Masr El Makasa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Karamoko Bamba is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Ashraf Mohsen signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ashraf Mohsen and Masr El Makasa agree another 5 years.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

Mohamed Mohsen 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 get the job done against Police Union

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

In brief

Back issues
59 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Masr El Makasa

Beaten 0‑3 by Zamalek, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ibrahim Gabr

There were 8 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.

Market

So close: Achraf Hermach’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Ghazl El Mahalla moved on, Achraf Hermach reports back to Masr El Makasa, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Squad

Real improvement from Trezeguet Fathy at Masr El Makasa

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

Match

The wait goes on for Masr El Makasa

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Mohamed Mohsen 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

Gustavo Figueiredo stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Gustavo Figueiredo and Masr El Makasa agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Masr El Makasa

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Loan watch

Salah Tarek has seen enough of Al Gaish

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Masr El Makasa, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

58 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 65. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Masr El Makasa turn down Nasarawa United for Mohamed Mohsen

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Favour Bala 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

Vittorio Gambardella is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.

Market

Eyes on Achraf Hermach again

The phone has started ringing about Achraf Hermach again, and this time the name on the line is Ghazl El Mahalla. Masr El Makasa are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Trezeguet Trezeguet signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Trezeguet Trezeguet commits to Masr El Makasa for another 2 years.

Squad

Mohamed Mohsen 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

Masr El Makasa supporters have found a favourite in Mohamed Mohsen

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

Match

Mohamed Mohsen rescues a point for Masr El Makasa

It needed Mohamed Mohsen to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against El Dakhleya, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

57 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Masr El Makasa

2‑6 against Al Ahly, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Real improvement from Gustavo Figueiredo at Masr El Makasa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Gustavo Figueiredo is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

Mohamed Mohsen among the goals in a wild afternoon

8 goals in one match, Mohamed Mohsen on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Masr El Makasa and Al Ahly.

Squad

Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Mohamed Mohsen 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

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Mahmoud El Shenawy

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

Market

Nasarawa United expected to open talks for Mohamed Mohsen

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Masr El Makasa will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

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.

In brief

53 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Masr El Makasa say no — this time

The offer from Paradou for Mohamed Mohsen 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

Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Mohamed Mohsen 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

No hiding place for Lance Rozeboom

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

Squad

Lawal Abiodun stays put

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

Boardroom

Masr El Makasa release $92.7K for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

In brief

48 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny breaks a bone — 50 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Achraf Hermach 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

Hearts of Oak watching Mohamed Mohsen

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Masr El Makasa have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Vittorio Gambardella is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

Mohamed Mohsen 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

44 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Gustavo Figueiredo

32 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.

Boardroom

Masr El Makasa are in Europe

Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.

Squad

Ashraf Mohsen is the young player of the season

Not a month, not a run of form — a whole season of being the best 20-year-old anybody in this division could put on a pitch. This is the honour that gets mentioned for the rest of his career.

In brief

40 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Gustavo Figueiredo damages knee ligaments — 63 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 63 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

Achraf Hermach: 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

Abdallah El Nenny 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.

In brief

36 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Gustavo Figueiredo damages knee ligaments — 92 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Ashraf Mohsen at 20 — 8.25

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ashraf Mohsen did not need any: 8.25, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Match

Whatever happens, Masr El Makasa do not lose

9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah El Nenny 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

Abdallah El Nenny is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.26 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Trezeguet Fathy 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 supporters have found a favourite in Ashraf Mohsen

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Ashraf Mohsen 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.

Match

Ashraf Mohsen sends Masr El Makasa past Arab Contractors

It finished 1‑0, and it was Ashraf Mohsen’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Masr El Makasa.

In brief

34 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Gustavo Figueiredo damages knee ligaments — 106 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 106 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

Kwame Partey gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kwame Partey has just signed for Masr El Makasa, and for once the answer mattered.

Match

Whatever happens, Masr El Makasa do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah El Nenny 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

Ibrahim Warda runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. 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

Trezeguet Fathy 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

Ramadan Ashour was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.10. 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.

Match

Masr El Makasa hit back inside 1 minutes

ENPPI held the lead for 1 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

Ibrahim Warda rescues a point for Masr El Makasa

It needed Ibrahim Warda to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against ENPPI, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

33 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 44. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Gustavo Figueiredo

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.

Match

6 unbeaten for Masr El Makasa

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Masr El Makasa did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Trezeguet Fathy signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Trezeguet Fathy commits to Masr El Makasa for another 4 years.

Squad

Ibrahim 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.

Match

Honours even between Masr El Makasa and Petrojet

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Market

Masr El Makasa and Gustavo Figueiredo 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.

Player ratings

Off the bench and decisive: Ibrahim Warda

The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Masr El Makasa were going nowhere until he came on.

In brief

32 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Gustavo Figueiredo

121 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

Nobody could get near Ibrahim Warda

Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Ashraf Mohsen at 20 — 8.37

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ashraf Mohsen did not need any: 8.37, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Match

Masr El Makasa cannot stop winning

4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Mahmoud El Shenawy signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mahmoud El Shenawy commits to Masr El Makasa for another 2 years.

Squad

Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

Defences have started doubling up on Abdallah El Nenny

12 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Masr El Makasa see off Military Production

Three points for Masr El Makasa, 2‑1 the final word against Military Production in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Abdallah El Nenny at his very best

Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Masr El Makasa.

In brief

31 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 57. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Gustavo Figueiredo

128 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

Lance Rozeboom 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.

Player ratings

Ashraf Mohsen, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.73

A mark of 7.73 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.

Match

Masr El Makasa make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Masr El Makasa have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Home is on Lance Rozeboom's mind

“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.

Squad

A last season at home is what Lance Rozeboom is after

It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Ashraf Mohsen

At 20 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.

In brief

30 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Vittorio Gambardella damages knee ligaments — 27 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 27 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

Achraf Hermach 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.

Player ratings

Both of them Abdallah El Nenny's — 8.35

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.35, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Ibrahim Gabr 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.

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. 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. Abdallah El Nenny 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.

In brief

28 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 57. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Victor Ntokon gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Victor Ntokon has just signed for Masr El Makasa, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah El Nenny 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.

Boardroom

Masr El Makasa beat the market to Mohamed Khalifa from Petrojet

Petrojet will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Mohamed Khalifa has pre-agreed a move to Masr El Makasa, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Squad

Trezeguet Trezeguet 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Abdallah El Nenny at his very best

Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Masr El Makasa.

Boardroom

Masr El Makasa release $92.7K for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

Match

Masr El Makasa and Haras El Hodoud take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Market

Masr El Makasa sign Vittorio Gambardella, one for the future

Vittorio Gambardella is 20, and Masr El Makasa have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.

In brief

27 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Masr El Makasa turn down HNK Rijeka for Ashraf Mohsen

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Trezeguet Fathy 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

El Masry take the points off Masr El Makasa

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

No hiding place for Lance Rozeboom

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

Squad

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.

Loan watch

Mohamed Mohsen keeps scoring at MB Rouissat

22 appearances away from home and 5 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Market

Masr El Makasa put Amr Sobhi up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Amr Sobhi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

26 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ibrahim Warda

Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Masr El Makasa turn down Adana Demirspor for Ali El Hadary

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abdallah El Nenny takes the afternoon — 8.27

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdallah El Nenny provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

A fracture rules Shikabala Aboutrika out for 19 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 cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ramadan Ashour 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 see off Aswan

Three points for Masr El Makasa, 3‑1 the final word against Aswan in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Ibrahim 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

Achraf Hermach 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

25 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour scores twice — 8.24

Two goals and a mark of 8.24 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Shikabala Aboutrika breaks a bone — 27 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Ashraf Mohsen, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.69

A mark of 7.69 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

Abdallah El Nenny runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Trezeguet Trezeguet 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

The crowd has taken to Ashraf Mohsen

At 20 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.

Squad

Masr El Makasa count the cost of losing Shikabala Salah

39 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Match

Ramadan Ashour sends Masr El Makasa past Al Gaish

It finished 2‑0, and it was Ramadan Ashour’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Masr El Makasa.

In brief

24 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Shikabala Aboutrika breaks a bone — 34 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Bassem Hegazi 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

Ali El Hadary signs a new deal

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

Squad

José Vieira gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. José Vieira has just signed for Masr El Makasa, and for once the answer mattered.

Match

Abdallah El Nenny the difference as Masr El Makasa beat Police Union

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdallah El Nenny. 3‑1 against Police Union, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

Masr El Makasa supporters have found a favourite in Mohamed Abdelnasser

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohamed Abdelnasser 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

Ninety minutes of Abdallah El Nenny at his very best

Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Masr El Makasa.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ramadan 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 buy the years ahead of Karamoko Bamba

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.

In brief

23 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Masr El Makasa taken apart

0‑3 to Zamalek, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

A fracture rules Shikabala Aboutrika out for 42 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.

Squad

Achraf Hermach 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 El Hadary is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Masr El Makasa will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. 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. Mahmoud El Shenawy 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.

In brief

22 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Shikabala Aboutrika breaks a bone — 50 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

A brace, and Ali El Hadary takes the afternoon — 8.87

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ali El Hadary provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah El Nenny 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

Ali El Hadary the difference as Masr El Makasa beat El Dakhleya

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ali El Hadary. 3‑1 against El Dakhleya, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Trezeguet Fathy 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

Ninety minutes of El Sayed Soliman at his very best

Marked 8.27. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Masr El Makasa.

Squad

Achraf Hermach knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Achraf Hermach trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Mohamed Mohsen’s exile

4 goals in 17 games at MB Rouissat — 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.

In brief

21 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

The unthinkable, invoiced: Mostafa El Shenawy sold

Liverpool Montevideo arrived with $9.5M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Masr El Makasa

A 1‑7 beating by Al Ahly was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

Ibrahim Gabr keeps Masr El Makasa in it on his own

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.

Market

Masr El Makasa turn down Unión de Santa Fe for Ali El Hadary

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $9.5M sale of Mostafa El Shenawy

He is going to Liverpool Montevideo, the club has $9.5M 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 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.” 6 of the 22 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Match

8 goals as Masr El Makasa and Al Ahly go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 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.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

20 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Eyes on Ali El Hadary again

The phone has started ringing about Ali El Hadary again, and this time the name on the line is Unión de Santa Fe. Masr El Makasa are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Mostafa El Shenawy is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.33 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Trezeguet Fathy 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.

Match

Mostafa El Shenawy rescues a point for Masr El Makasa

It needed Mostafa El Shenawy to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Ittihad, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

19 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Masr El Makasa strike at the death to beat Arab Contractors

There were 85 minutes on the clock and Arab Contractors had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Masr El Makasa did not stop to explain themselves.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Ashraf Mohsen at 20 — 7.80

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ashraf Mohsen did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Match

Nobody wants to play Masr El Makasa right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Mostafa El Shenawy 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

Mostafa El Shenawy is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.31 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Masr El Makasa get the job done against Arab Contractors

A 3‑2 win over Arab Contractors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Trezeguet Trezeguet signs on for more

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

In brief

18 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 53. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abdallah El Nenny takes the afternoon — 8.26

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdallah El Nenny provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Masr El Makasa lose Achraf Hermach

18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Warda scored one and made one — 7.90

Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.90, and 2 involvements.

Match

Abdallah El Nenny among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Abdallah El Nenny on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Masr El Makasa and Ghazl El Mahalla.

Match

Masr El Makasa find a way past Ghazl El Mahalla

Ghazl El Mahalla made Masr El Makasa work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah El Nenny 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

Ibrahim 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

No hiding place for Lance Rozeboom

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

In brief

17 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Masr El Makasa bow out of the cup

Zamalek go through and Masr El Makasa go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 14 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.

Squad

Mostafa El Shenawy 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. Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

The manager makes an example of Mahmoud El Shenawy

“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.

In brief

16 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 21 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Mostafa El Shenawy 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.

Market

Amr Sobhi comes home

The shirt still fits. Amr Sobhi is back at Masr El Makasa, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Squad

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah El Nenny 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 Petrojet

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

Squad

The manager makes an example of Achraf Hermach

“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.

Market

The Mostafa El Shenawy 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.

Player ratings

Off the bench and decisive: Ismail Ashraf

The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Masr El Makasa were going nowhere until he came on.

In brief

15 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 52. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Abdallah El Nenny leads the rout of Military Production

5‑2, and Abdallah El Nenny took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Masr El Makasa tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 28 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.

Player ratings

Mostafa El Shenawy scores twice — 9.23

Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abdallah El Nenny takes the afternoon — 8.22

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdallah El Nenny provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Mostafa El Shenawy 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

Abdallah El Nenny among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Abdallah El Nenny on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Masr El Makasa and Military Production.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Mostafa El Shenawy is carrying Masr El Makasa

13 goals and a season average of 7.22. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

In brief

14 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 35 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.

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Masr El Makasa lose Achraf Hermach

49 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Mahmoud El Shenawy 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 Smouha

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

Squad

Ismail Ashraf 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

13 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Mostafa El Shenawy leads the rout of Wadi Degla

4‑1, and Mostafa El Shenawy took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Masr El Makasa tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 42 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.

Squad

3 goals for Mostafa El Shenawy

The match ball belongs to Mostafa El Shenawy, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Mostafa El Shenawy in the eights

A performance of 9.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Trezeguet Fathy 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 Mohamed Abdelnasser

At 20 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.

Loan watch

Mohamed Mohsen keeps scoring at MB Rouissat

8 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

  • The terraces The crowd stays with them
  • The terraces The press have found their man in Mostafa El Shenawy
12 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 49 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.

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Masr El Makasa

Mostafa El Shenawy 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. Abdallah El Nenny 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

Lance Rozeboom 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

A masterclass from Mostafa El Shenawy

Marked 8.12 — 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.

In brief

11 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 49. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 56 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

Shikabala Salah 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

Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahmoud El Shenawy 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

Ibrahim 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

No hiding place for Ismail Ashraf

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

In brief

10 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

El Sayed Soliman breaks a bone — 64 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 26. 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

Mostafa El Shenawy 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. Abdallah El Nenny 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

Trezeguet Trezeguet signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Trezeguet Trezeguet and Masr El Makasa agree another 1 years.

Match

El Masry take the points off Masr El Makasa

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

7 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

No mercy from Masr El Makasa

Police Union will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Masr El Makasa were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 86 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.

Squad

A day Mostafa El Shenawy will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

Both of them Ramadan Ashour's — 8.13

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.13, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

One of those days for Mostafa El Shenawy

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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 Ibrahim Warda

Successful dribbles: 20. 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

Ismail Ashraf 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.

Market

Mostafa El Shenawy linked with a move away

The name of Mostafa El Shenawy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Masr El Makasa say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

6 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

El Sayed Soliman breaks a bone — 94 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Shikabala Salah 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

Ibrahim Gabr 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.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Masr El Makasa — 7.14

1 for Achraf Hermach, marked 7.14, 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

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

Market

Ali Aboutrika’s move to Petrojet falls through

The deal that would have taken Ali Aboutrika to Petrojet has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Masr El Makasa with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

In brief

5 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

El Sayed Soliman breaks a bone — 101 days out

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.

Market

Masr El Makasa say no — this time

The offer from PWD Bamenda for Ali El Hadary 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

Mostafa El Shenawy attracts admirers

The name of Mostafa El Shenawy has come up in conversations Masr El Makasa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

Mohamed Zizo 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 Ismail Ashraf for $200.0K

The paperwork is done: Ismail Ashraf joins from Haras El Hodoud in a deal worth $200.0K. Now comes the harder part.

Squad

Mostafa El Shenawy 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

Masr El Makasa spend $200.0K on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $200.0K for Ismail Ashraf, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Squad

Ramadan Ashour 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.

In brief

4 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

El Sayed Soliman breaks a bone — 108 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Masr El Makasa

0‑3 against Al Ahly, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Masr El Makasa say no — this time

The offer from Al Ahly for Trezeguet Trezeguet 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

Mostafa 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.

Market

Ali El Hadary attracts admirers

The name of Ali El Hadary has come up in conversations Masr El Makasa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Trezeguet Trezeguet 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.

Player ratings

Ramadan Ashour runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. 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. Abdallah El Nenny 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

Achraf Hermach 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

3 Edition

The Masr El Makasa Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ramadan Ashour

Successful dribbles: 64. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

El Sayed Soliman breaks a bone — 115 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Masr El Makasa turn down Gornik Leczna for Ali El Hadary

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Trezeguet Trezeguet attracts admirers

The name of Trezeguet Trezeguet has come up in conversations Masr El Makasa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Mostafa El Shenawy 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.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Masr El Makasa

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad

Abdallah El Nenny 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

Fathy El Mohamady steps up from the Masr El Makasa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fathy El Mohamady has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Masr El Makasa promote Shikabala Aboutrika from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Shikabala Aboutrika has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief