Marked for Karim Hamdi
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market14 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 The request is on a desk at Masr El Makasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santos have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Three points for Masr El Makasa, 2‑1 the final word against Zamalek in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Abdallah Trezeguet was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.11 — 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Ali Fathi
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Fathi, and the manager let it.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“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 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdelrahman Mano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 14 in, 2 out at Masr El Makasa
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Masr El Makasa asked and Bragantino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rivio Ayemwenre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Abdallah Trezeguet
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Abdallah Trezeguet has come out of that comparison in the side, and Masr El Makasa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Karim Hamdi slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Karim Hamdi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Masr El Makasa are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Masr El Makasa take on the side everybody is chasing
Zamalek arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from Police Union for Hossam El Mohamady 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $10.3K — a club that wants Adam El Mallah enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$32.0K on the table at Ittihad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Masr El Makasa have gone to Wadi Degla with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
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
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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ittihad left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Karim Hamdi
“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.