Marked for Abdullah Abdulrahman
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Rashid Nader out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Ahli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.59 for the rest of it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdulqader Abdullah is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Ahli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fahad Al Menhali and Al Ahli agree another 4 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 48. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Rashid Nader out for 74 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Ahli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Zé Welinton is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Rashid Nader 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.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
7.47, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Al Ahli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Aug 2027
Rashid Nader breaks a bone — 98 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Aug 2027
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.
Market23 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al Ahli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A late step up for Ali Saleh
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yassine Benzia 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Al Ain will make the call about Nasser Al Bloushi this week. Al Ahli have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
Ahmed Juma breaks a bone — 91 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdullah Abdulrahman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al Ahli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Faisal Omar 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 Al Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al Ahli
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Nasser Al Hashmi out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Ahli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Jun 2027
Abdullah Saeed has left for Al Jazira in a $1.8M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Ahli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ahmed Omar is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Khalfan Hassan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Rashid Nader 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 terraces15 Feb 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ali Saleh. 1‑0 against Baniyas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Ninety minutes of Ali Saleh at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al Ahli.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 50. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match23 Jan 2027
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Jonas Naafo scored in the 88th minute, Al Wasl had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Al Ahli took the lot.
Market25 Jan 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 Al Ahli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 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 Al Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market25 Jan 2027
Saeed Nader has left for Al Shaab in a $250.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rashid Nader 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 terraces25 Jan 2027
Al Ahli supporters have found a favourite in Jonas Naafo
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Jonas Naafo 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
A 1‑0 win over Al Wasl, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A mark of 7.41, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Al Ahli say no — this time
The offer from Al Jazira for Khalfan Hassan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Khalfan Hassan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Rashid Nader 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Rashid Nader 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Al Ahli have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al Ahli has been clear about where Abdullah Abdulrahman stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Dec 2026
Khalfan Hassan wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al Ahli hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Rashid Nader 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 Al Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Dec 2026
Three points for Al Ahli, 2‑0 the final word against Al Shabab in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Ubierna 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdullah Abdulrahman and Al Ahli agree another 1 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Abdullah Saeed
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Abdullah Saeed has come out of that comparison in the side, and Al Ahli have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Chances created: 4. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al Ahli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Rashid Nader 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 Al Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Faisal Omar and Al Ahli agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Mahmoud Obaid
“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
Uneasy
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Rashid Nader 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
Benjamín Ubierna 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdullah Abdulrahman commits to Al Ahli for another 1 years.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
7.45, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Al Ahli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Abdullah Saeed named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Abdullah Saeed is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Dibba, and it could have been more.
Market28 Sep 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 Al Ahli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Abdullah Saeed at 20 — 8.05
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdullah Saeed did not need any: 8.05, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rashid Nader 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 Al Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdullah Saeed 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Ubierna 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Fahad Al Menhali 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 Al Ahli.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdullah Abdulrahman, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
$10.6M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $10.6M sale of Hamad Al Hashmi
He is going to Shakhtar, the club has $10.6M 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Rashid Nader 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 Al Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
The Saeed Nader conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: USM Alger will make the call about Saeed Nader this week. Al Ahli have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Al Nasr have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Saeed Nader. The answer from Al Ahli has not changed — yet.