Marked for Sultan Khalfan
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hamad Al Suwaidi
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Shaab lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Fahad Yaqoob 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Feras Saleh has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Al Shaab have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Morad Khodari 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Al Ahli made Al Shaab work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Morad Khodari 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Omar Khalfan in the middle of it, and Al Ahli unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
7.83, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Al Shaab had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hamad Al Suwaidi
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Shaab lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market4 Jan 2027
Al Shaab say no — this time
The offer from Al Wasl for Khalfan Obaid 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.
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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. Al Shaab will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Josepmir Ballón out for 100 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Shaab will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Dibba spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sultan Khalfan. 1‑0 against Dibba, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Khalid Butti, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A mark of 7.71, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Josepmir Ballón out for 114 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Shaab will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 37 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Morad Khodari 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 terraces30 Nov 2026
At 17 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sultan Khalfan, and the manager let it.
Match28 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Amer Al Hashmi. 1‑0 against Al Wahda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.52 on the card, and the Al Shaab support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Josepmir Ballón out for 121 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Shaab will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Hamad Al Bloushi: 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.” Al Shaab have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhon Figueroa, and the manager let it.
Match21 Nov 2026
A 1‑0 win over Al Fujairah, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 7.68. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Josepmir Ballón out for 128 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Shaab will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ali Suqrat: 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.” Al Shaab have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
There were 6 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Al Shaab training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Morad Khodari 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Oct 2026
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A brace, and Fahad Yaqoob takes the afternoon — 8.31
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fahad Yaqoob provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A brace, and Sultan Khalfan takes the afternoon — 8.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sultan Khalfan provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market2 Nov 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 Shaab, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Nov 2026
There were 6 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
At 17 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
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Squad
Jhon Figueroa dropped after a run of poor form
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The terraces
The crowd stays with them
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The terraces
The press have found their man in Fahad Yaqoob
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Khalfan Al Naqbi out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Shaab will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 10 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Morad Khodari. 2‑1 against Baniyas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Morad Khodari 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
7.79, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Al Shaab had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Omar Khalfan dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Khalfan Al Naqbi out for 36 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Shaab will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Rashid Hassan 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Al Shaab against Dibba
0‑1 to Dibba, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ali Suqrat 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
Triumph
Market7 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 Shaab, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Majed Hassan to Al Wasl has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Al Shaab with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Fahad Yaqoob 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Fahad Yaqoob
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Graduation day at Al Shaab
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market7 Sep 2026
One of our own: Ali Rashid joins the Al Shaab first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ali Rashid is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market7 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ibrahim Omar 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Al Dhafra, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Morad Khodari 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.