Position 1, 77 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.17 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Abdoul Ouattara 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 afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Bezerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Two goals and a mark of 8.43 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.25 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.57 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ghazl El Mahalla will want this one forgotten quickly: 8‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zamalek were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.92 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two goals and a mark of 9.54 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.11 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. ENPPI kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Zamalek will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan Bezerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.72 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Adham Farid has come up in conversations Zamalek were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 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. 9.54 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Muhammadyusuf Sobirov: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
The offer from Aswan for Adham Farid 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.93 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Zamalek, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoul Ouattara provided it, and the 9.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.66 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 Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2038
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.37 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.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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. Zamalek will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.30 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.68 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.58 — 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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 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. 9.94 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Zamalek and Al Ahly, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Zamalek dressing room in a hurry
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kamory Doumbia provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.71 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
35 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.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Ittihad kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Zamalek will be asked about the last half hour all week.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.30 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Calvin Bassey 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.
Abdoul Ouattara had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Haras El Hodoud were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
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.
Idrissa Guèye 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.
Marked 8.98 — 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.
Marked 8.14 — 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Zamalek and Arab Contractors, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Abdoul Ouattara at his very best
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zamalek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mamour N'Diaye has just signed for Zamalek, and for once the answer mattered.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omar Abdelaziz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kamory Doumbia provided it, and the 9.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
6 goals in one match, Kamory Doumbia on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zamalek and Ghazl El Mahalla.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zamalek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
In brief
Player ratingsOusmane Diop was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Player ratingsAbdoul Ouattara was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zamalek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.24 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
Squad12 Oct 2037
Calvin Bassey 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Zamalek and ENPPI, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 9.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match3 Oct 2037
Another one collected away from home
8 on the bounce on the road for Zamalek. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
25 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kamory Doumbia provided it, and the 9.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek 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.
Police Union will want this one forgotten quickly: 8‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zamalek were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zamalek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.81 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Arab Contractors moved on, Moussa Diarra reports back to Zamalek, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
14 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 9.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Abu Francis reports back to Zamalek with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
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.
13 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
23 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Ittihad for Adham Farid 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.92 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.89 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
12 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. El Dakhleya will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Zamalek, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
22 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kamory Doumbia provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings17 Aug 2037
A brace, and Idrissa Guèye takes the afternoon — 9.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Idrissa Guèye provided it, and the 9.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.15 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zamalek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from ENPPI for Adham Farid 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Relebohile Mofokeng and Zamalek agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Jul 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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 words a physio says slowly. 61 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 133 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer from Aswan for Francis Gomez 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Zamalek training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abu Francis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The phone has started ringing about Adham Farid again, and this time the name on the line is ENPPI. Zamalek are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer from Wadi Degla for Fathy Fathy 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.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Idrissa Guèye 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.
119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek 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.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jun 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
126 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: Arab Contractors have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adham Farid. The answer from Zamalek has not changed — yet.
The offer from Al Gaish for Francis Gomez 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.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Amir Richardson commits to Zamalek for another 2 years.
Squad8 Jun 2037
Calvin Bassey 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
21 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The words a physio says slowly. 134 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.
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. Zamalek will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 141 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 128 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 135 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francis Gomez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Bezerra signs something — a contract at Zamalek or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 144 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abu Francis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
Abdoul Ouattara 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.
Squad4 May 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omar Abdelaziz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Zamalek training over how hard people work
SquadThe manager has not finished forgetting Akinkunmi Amoo's mistake
MarketThe clock does Abu Francis’s negotiating for him
Position 1, 97 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Bezerra signs something — a contract at Zamalek or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
12 appearances in, the average sits at 6.83, and the people who defended him through the autumn are enjoying themselves enormously. Adaptation is a story football only tells backwards.
In brief
BoardroomThe Zamalek production line keeps running
5‑3 against Al Ahly, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
9 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abu Francis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Zamalek and Al Ahly, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
SquadJuan Bezerra falls out with a teammate over standards
20 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Zamalek rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Ittihad had no answer to any of it.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.37 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Mar 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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 ratings23 Mar 2037
Abdoul Ouattara was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.93. 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.
18 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Position 1, 88 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 10.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francis Gomez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juan Bezerra 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.
In brief
SquadKamory Doumbia falls out with a teammate over standards
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.04 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 Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Mar 2037
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zamalek and Arab Contractors, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Two goals and a mark of 8.82 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Christopher Bonsu Baah and Zamalek agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.76 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zamalek and Ghazl El Mahalla in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.46 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francis Gomez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Abdoul Ouattara had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and ENPPI were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoul Ouattara provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
10 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 9.85 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kamory Doumbia provided it, and the 9.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The phone has started ringing about Adham Farid again, and this time the name on the line is Al Gaish. Zamalek are listening politely and promising nothing.
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
A 7‑4 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?
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahim El Nagaawy provided it, and the 9.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 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. 10.00 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Position 1, 66 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 10.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Pape Matar Sarr has just signed for Zamalek, and for once the answer mattered.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
In brief
SquadKamory Doumbia falls out with a teammate over standards
Masr El Makasa will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zamalek were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 10.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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. Zamalek will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Add another name to the list: Haras El Hodoud have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adham Farid. The answer from Zamalek has not changed — yet.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
Position 1, 54 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.47 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoul Ouattara provided it, and the 9.56 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.23 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simphiwe Mlondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zamalek and Wadi Degla in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Telmo Arcanjo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
16 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Position 1, 45 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 10.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Nov 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
14 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Match15 Nov 2036
Another one collected away from home
11 on the bounce on the road for Zamalek. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.37 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
13 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 7‑0 against Arab Contractors, and it could have been more.
Player ratings10 Nov 2036
A brace, and Calvin Bassey takes the afternoon — 10.00
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Calvin Bassey provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.46 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelkahar Kadri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
12 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kamory Doumbia provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings3 Nov 2036
A brace, and Calvin Bassey takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Calvin Bassey provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
11 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Position 1, 33 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.69 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zamalek and Aswan in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
SquadKamory Doumbia falls out with a teammate over standards
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.55 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Oct 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match4 Oct 2036
Another one collected away from home
8 on the bounce on the road for Zamalek. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.50 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoul Ouattara provided it, and the 9.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.90 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.07 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simphiwe Mlondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
10.00. 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zamalek and Police Union in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 9.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.59 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Sep 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Abdoul Ouattara is living that version at Zamalek, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.84 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match6 Sep 2036
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Zamalek. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The offer from El Dakhleya for Bassem Kahraba 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Telmo Arcanjo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
In brief
SquadWords at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Edmund Baidoo at his very best
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Bonsu Baah provided it, and the 9.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from Haras El Hodoud for Adham Farid 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.30 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Calvin Bassey 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.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.87 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zamalek and El Dakhleya in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two goals and a mark of 9.57 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.98 at 36, 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 Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Telmo Arcanjo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from Ittihad for Simphiwe Mlondo 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Aug 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
The offer from Ittihad for Franco Nicola 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
Calvin Bassey 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Jul 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: Partizan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Idrissa Guèye. The answer from Zamalek has not changed — yet.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zamalek heard it as anything else.
The offer from Military Production for Ibrahim El Nagaawy 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alban Lafont commits to Zamalek for another 2 years.
Squad7 Jul 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamory Doumbia 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.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
“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 Zamalek, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Jun 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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 name of Simphiwe Mlondo has come up in conversations Zamalek were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Zamalek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zamalek hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jun 2036
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Calvin Bassey had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Al Ahly were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
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. Zamalek will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
In brief
SquadKamory Doumbia falls out with a teammate over standards
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zamalek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adham Farid will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamalek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmytro Ledvii will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zamalek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Akinkunmi Amoo 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.
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zamalek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a 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 Zamalek, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zamalek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.