From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Samandar Ochilov 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 30 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Mashal are won quietly and lost loudly.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mashal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match19 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Mashal
A 0‑3 beating by Kokand 1912 was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nurjahon Muzaffarov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Mashal 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
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.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sherzod Fayziyev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mashal needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nuriddin Nuriddinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Odil Hasanov 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ulugbek Masharipov 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Eldor Akhmedov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Mashal dressing room was either.
Match12 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Mashal?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Lokomotiv? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Kokand 1912 next, and one man in the Mashal dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mashal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market7 Sep 2026
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Ordabasy for Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Roman Khadjiev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Khadjiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Mashal close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Roman Khadjiev has agreed terms with Bunyodkor for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Asadbek Samariddinov to Qizilqum has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Mashal with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
At last: Mashal win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against AGMK. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
Navbahor arrived with $310.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mashal have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev has gone, the accounts have $310.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Market31 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Mashal
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match29 Aug 2026
The goals have deserted Mashal
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mashal can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov 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
Bunyodkor left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mashal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Mashal's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mashal has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mashal have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match22 Aug 2026
Mashal cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Islom Sharipov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Aug 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 Eldor Akhmedov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Mashal
0‑1 against Lokomotiv, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Mashal cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samandar Ochilov 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Sogdiana left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“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.
The dugout17 Aug 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 0‑2 Eldor Akhmedov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market17 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Islom Rashidxonov has his answer from Mashal; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Izzatullo Abdulhaqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Asadbek Samariddinov has agreed terms with AGMK for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Mashal come up short against Nasaf
Nasaf left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Farhod Komilov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sardor Akhmedov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dostonbek Abdullaev 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Izzatullo Abdulhaqov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
The division's best last weekend was a Mashal man
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Looking ahead
Ergash Ismoilov goes back to face Sogdiana
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Vlatko Stojanovski, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match1 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 6‑0 against Metallurg, and it could have been more.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.73 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Humoyun Murtozaev and Mashal agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match1 Aug 2026
6 goals in one match, Vlatko Stojanovski on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Mashal and Metallurg.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 8.30 — 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.