From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
1‑4 to Haras El Hodoud, 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Sherif Dabo 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Amr El Saadawy
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at El Dakhleya who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the El Dakhleya dressing room in a hurry
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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
5 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Market5 Oct 2026
Experience through the door at El Dakhleya
Juan José Barreña arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El Dakhleya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Sherif Dabo 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
Steady
Match16 Sep 2026
The small margins put El Dakhleya out
Out, 0‑1 to Masr El Makasa, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason El Dakhleya will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Kassoum Ouattara, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.96
A mark of 8.96 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A first appearance Abdelaziz El Zoghbi will want to forget — 5.75
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.75, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sherif Dabo 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at El Dakhleya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Acosta 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 terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kassoum Ouattara 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Kassoum Ouattara’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to El Dakhleya.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Matías Villalba
“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
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 9 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad14 Sep 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kassoum Ouattara, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Al Gaish, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
6 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
An afternoon Jorge Mora will want back
Marked 5.57. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Sep 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Santiago Márquez scored in the 86th minute, Police Union had already begun thinking about the journey home, and El Dakhleya took the lot.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The El Dakhleya board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad7 Sep 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at El Dakhleya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Acosta 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Santiago Márquez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to El Dakhleya.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Sherif Dabo
“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
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El Dakhleya can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El Dakhleya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Sherif Dabo 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for El Dakhleya
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Eduardo Acosta 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of El Sayed Salem
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El Dakhleya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
ENPPI are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. El Dakhleya will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Mohamed Shika 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Point won or two lost for El Dakhleya?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Zamalek? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 5.39, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 5.77, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 11 of the 24 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Sherif Dabo 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Nader Ramadan for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. El Dakhleya will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at El Dakhleya
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
Eduardo Acosta 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ramadan Kahraba 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Shikabala El Nenny 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Shikabala Ashour 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason El Dakhleya will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from Police Union for Mohamed El Araby 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Sherif Dabo 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” El-Amir Hossam commits to El Dakhleya for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at El Dakhleya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. El Sayed Salem 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason El Dakhleya will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 Aug 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sherif Dabo and El Dakhleya agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sherif Dabo 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 El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mohamed Shika 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.