Marked for El Sayed Soliman
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 51. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match25 Sep 2027
El Sayed Soliman wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. El Sayed Soliman found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Al Gaish went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Ashraf Mohsen, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.05
A mark of 8.05 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: El Sayed Soliman. 2‑1 against Al Gaish, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces27 Sep 2027
At 21 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roger Emga commits to Masr El Makasa for another 2 years.
Squad27 Sep 2027
6 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 67. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Match18 Sep 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Aug 2027
Shikabala Salah is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” El Sayed Soliman commits to Masr El Makasa for another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jul 2027
$2.1M from Al Wahda for Ibrahim Warda. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Jul 2027
Zamalek come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Masr El Makasa did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market12 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Masr El Makasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Supporters turn on the $2.1M sale of Ibrahim Warda
He is going to Al Wahda, the club has $2.1M 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Shikabala Salah is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Gustavo Figueiredo damages knee ligaments — 99 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
“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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Masr El Makasa did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Mar 2027
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.
Match27 Mar 2027
A 2‑1 win over Ghazl El Mahalla, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad29 Mar 2027
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 terraces29 Mar 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad29 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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 ratings28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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 ratings28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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 watch28 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
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.
Match18 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Market16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Match14 Nov 2026
1‑2 to Petrojet, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Market16 Nov 2026
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 ratings16 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 52. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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 ratings9 Nov 2026
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 ratings9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
13 goals and a season average of 7.22. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
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 ratings2 Nov 2026
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
49 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Smouha left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The match ball belongs to Mostafa El Shenawy, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 9.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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 terraces26 Oct 2026
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 watch26 Oct 2026
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
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The terraces
The crowd stays with them
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The terraces
The press have found their man in Mostafa El Shenawy
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
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 ratings19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“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 ratings19 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 49. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
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 ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 72 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Aswan, and it could have been more.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Ashraf Mohsen, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83
A mark of 7.83 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Lance Rozeboom for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Masr El Makasa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Masr El Makasa do not lose
6 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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 terraces28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 61. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match16 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over El Dakhleya, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules El Sayed Soliman out for 79 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Lance Rozeboom
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.73, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match19 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al Gaish defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market21 Sep 2026
The name of Ali El Hadary keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Masr El Makasa say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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 ratings14 Sep 2026
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 ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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 ratings7 Sep 2026
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 ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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 terraces31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑3 against Al Ahly, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Market24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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 ratings24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 64. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
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.