0‑4 to Zamalek, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al Gaish may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Tarek 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.
Ziad El Teihy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro will call it something else in private.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ali Hamdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al Gaish the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mostafa Kahraba was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Al Gaish dressing room was either.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1‑4 to Masr El Makasa, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Al Gaish had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Atlético Mineiro, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Al Gaish ran out of time with El Dakhleya. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Military Production waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al Gaish is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Ismaily for Ahmed Khaled 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 ratings1 Feb 2027
Ebuka Okeke, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.69
A mark of 7.69 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Al Gaish until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
8 seasons and 272 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Riga obliged against Arab Contractors. 3‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Al Gaish.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Gaish is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Karim Tarek 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Military Production will make the call about Ali Hamdi this week. Al Gaish have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
The deal with Frosinone is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Islam Mohareb had Al Gaish level again within 3 minutes, and Ittihad never got to play with a lead at all.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with El Masry; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ghazl El Mahalla waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al Gaish is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at MC Oran is saying, and nobody at Al Gaish is enjoying the guessing.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Gaish have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Karim Tarek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
62 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Karim Tarek 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.
Position 14, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mostafa Kahraba to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Ahmed Zola is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mostafa Kahraba chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Gaish lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A brace, and Ahmed Khaled takes the afternoon — 9.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ahmed Khaled provided it, and the 9.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mostafa Kahraba kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Gaish lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 16 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Karim Tarek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Emad El Sayed
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Hassan Magdy
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Karim Tarek 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mostafa Kahraba after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Gaish lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Gaish will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A 2‑1 win over Haras El Hodoud, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.97 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Amro Tarek’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Al Gaish needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ebuka Okeke has written the date down.
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Gaish lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Gaish have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Karim Tarek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
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 needed Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Haras El Hodoud, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“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 Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Karim Tarek 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Camacho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Al Gaish can tell you which week it ends in.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mostafa Kahraba after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Omar Radwan is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Camacho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against El Masry in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Al Gaish is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Radwan, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ghaith Al-Madadha 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Mostafa Kahraba left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Camacho's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Karim Tarek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Camacho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Zamalek.
Zamalek next, and one man in the Al Gaish dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Omar Radwan 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amro Tarek and Al Gaish agree another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Tarek 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ghaith Al-Madadha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Police Union next, and one man in the Al Gaish dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Masr El Makasa next, and one man in the Al Gaish dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
7.74, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Omar Radwan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ali Hamdi scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Al Ahly, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Camacho 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.
Al Gaish asked and Corinthians said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Mohamed Shaaban again, and this time the name on the line is Ghazl El Mahalla. Al Gaish are listening politely and promising nothing.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“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 Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Amro Tarek has come up in conversations Al Gaish were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sport Recife keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Karim Tarek 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cruzeiro have kept their man, and Al Gaish go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Amro Tarek has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al Gaish, and both men came out saying it was fine.
7.62, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Al Gaish asked and Flamengo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Camacho. 2‑1 against Ittihad, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Al Gaish have made the call to Sport Recife. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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 Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Chapecoense, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cruzeiro is saying, and nobody at Al Gaish is enjoying the guessing.
Emad El Sayed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Camacho 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bragantino have kept their man, and Al Gaish go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Karim Tarek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mostafa Kahraba after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is the quietest way a club tells you what its ambitions are. The money was asked for, the money was refused, and the people who work there every day now know exactly where they stand.
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 Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Bassem Soliman 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mohamed El Hadary 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. El Sayed Warda is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ashraf Mohsen 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.
8 seasons and 267 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Emad El Sayed 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Camacho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atlético Mineiro have kept their man, and Al Gaish go back to a list with one name crossed off it.