21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Stars Jeunes Talents will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. US Moursal were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now US Moursal have 7 straight wins of it.
Player ratings18 Jan 2038
A brace, and Issa Youssouf takes the afternoon — 8.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Issa Youssouf provided it, and the 8.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Idriss Mbainaissem provided it, and the 9.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 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.
10 goals in one match, Idriss Mbainaissem on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of US Moursal and CotonTchad.
Squad11 Jan 2038
Moussa Oumar 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.
24 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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. US Moursal will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Elect Sport made US Moursal work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Dec 2037
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Moustapha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The goal that put Elect Sport ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when US Moursal equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at US Moursal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
9 goals in one match, Abdoulaye Allamine on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of US Moursal and Foullah Edifice.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Allamine provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.51 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at US Moursal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
10 goals in one match, Issa Youssouf on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of US Moursal and Aiglons.
22 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Idriss Mbainaissem 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.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between US Moursal and AS Algoy, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings30 Nov 2037
Moussa Oumar was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.54. 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.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around US Moursal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. US Moursal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
10 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.19 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at US Moursal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 2037
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Moustapha 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Hassan Doungous 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.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
9 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.
8 goals in one match, Abdoulaye Allamine on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of US Moursal and AS DGSSIE.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Idriss Mbainaissem 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
20 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
8 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Allamine provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.33 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Issa Moustapha and US Moursal agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Nov 2037
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Moustapha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 105 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Allamine provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around US Moursal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between US Moursal and Galactik, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
SquadWords at US Moursal training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 112 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at US Moursal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between US Moursal and Stars Jeunes Talents, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A 4‑2 win over Stars Jeunes Talents, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about US Moursal and CotonTchad in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad12 Jan 2037
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Moustapha 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.
At 23 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
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. US Moursal will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Everyone has stopped pretending: AS Algoy will make the call about Issa Allamine this week. US Moursal have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Elect Sport kept coming because nothing stopped them, and US Moursal will be asked about the last half hour all week.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” US Moursal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at US Moursal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Hissein 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.