DJ’S JOTTINGS – NUMBER 8 (T’EGYPT)

January can be a depressing month in England: Short dark days, freezing cold weather, post Christmas debts and a glut of postponements. These factors helped make a trip to Egypt a most attractive proposition. The African Nations Cup finals were the main focus but I also wanted to see how their pyramid system worked.

In order to get a good deal on flights we travelled with Austrian Airlines, via Vienna to Cairo. The transfer arrangements made with the hotel worked very well. Our representative met us immediately inside the terminal building and we were whisked through passport control and customs in a matter of seconds to our waiting taxi.

We now had our first experience of Cairo traffic and driving. Some of the road conditions made the M25 seem like a country lane. Much of the driving was reminiscent of stock car racing although the stock cars I remember were probably in a more roadworthy condition than the average Cairo taxi. If you were really lucky the driver could produce a handle for you to open the window with. However, this only exposed you to increased pollution and more of the incessant horn beeping. Differing uses of the horn supposedly indicate the driver’s intentions, with a prolonged blast meaning ‘I cannot or will not stop so get out of the way’. A further indication of the chaos on the roads was the fact that Cairo has had traffic lights since 1984 but they are still completely ignored.

Our base, the Pharaoh Hotel, is on the Western side of the Nile, in the district of Mohandessin and very close to the headquarters of the Zamalek club. Cairo’s other leading club side, El Ahly are not too far away either on the island of Gezira. Both are private members clubs so entry cannot be gained to have a look at their facilities. Each has its own football stadium but both sides normally play at the International Stadium now.

Spend much of the opening two days sightseeing with the Great Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza, further pyramids at Saqqara and Dahshur, and the Coptic Quarter of Old Cairo on the agenda.

The 25^th African Nations Cup sees Egypt as hosts for the 4^th time. The 16 teams are divided into 4 groups with 4 venues staging double headers for the opening two matches for each side. 2 further grounds are used for the final round of group games where matches kick off at the same time. We managed to visit all 6 grounds and see 12 games in total for a combined cost of about £25. It would have been less but two sets of our pre-ordered tickets failed to arrive at our hotel.

Our opening action was at the Cairo International Stadium, comfortably the largest ground in Egypt, with a capacity of 74,000. Many supporters failed to get to the opening games here when the roads were closed to enable President Mubarak and his entourage to attend. The ground is located about 10km north-west of the city centre. The various access points according to ticket type are well spread out and initially very confusing. Having been guided in several different directions we eventually secure entry into the first class section with our second class tickets.

The stadium was originally opened in 1960, but recently refurbished. It has staged the African Nations Cup final in 1986, the World under-17 Championship Final in 1997, Egypt internationals and club matches. The ground is oval shaped round an athletics track with two continuous tiers of seating. Apart from a block of VIP type boxes at the top of the upper tier only the rear section of the lower tier is covered and that only by the front section of the upper tier. The players’ tunnel comes out from the front of a replica sphinx and a panorama of Egyptian landmarks is displayed along the top of one side. As well as the usual toilets and catering facilities (McDonalds included!) the concourses have prayer areas.

Libya and Ivory Coast are the first contestants we see and provide a pretty good game. The Ivorians are probably keen to avoid their fate in 2002 when following early elimination the team was temporarily detained by the country’s military rulers. They take the lead through Chelsea’s Didier Drogba. Libya play some neat fooball and deservedly level but the Cote d’Ivoire win it through Yaya Toure.

The atmosphere builds up for the second game with hosts Egypt in action against Morocco. The flag waving, chanting and general noise grows and approximately 71,000 are in the stadium by kick off time. Tottenham’s ‘Mido’ is the crowd favourite. The match itself is disappointing. Morocco are very negative while Egypt contrive to waste their few clear cut chances. 0-0.

Enjoy a post match drink in the Cairo Cellar Bar at the President Hotel, along with some of the other refugees from the English winter. They have a reasonable range of bottled beers, all lager of course and the locally brewed stuff is quite drinkable.

Another day of sightseeing follows, in the Islamic Quarter this time. The elevated bastion of the Citadel includes an impressive military museum and the Mohammed Ali mosque. The latter is named after the 19^th century religious leader, not the boxer. Respectfully take our shoes off and don’t reproduce any Danish style cartoons. The streets below the Citadel are teeming with people and there are all kinds of market stalls and shops stretching for kilometres. Avoid the temptation to purchase a sheesha (water pipe), carpet or genuine papyrus scroll despite the constant encouragement from the local vendors. “Lovely jubbly” is the English phrase heard most often.

On to the football and the Military Academy Stadium, still in Cairo but a little further out, passed the International Stadium and near the airport. It was opened in 1989 seats 28,500 in one continuous oval shaped tier and is home to the El Jaish club as well as military teams. Just a small section on the main side is covered. The military connection is quite appropriate because for tonight’s games, and indeed for all the games not involving Egypt, hordes of soldiers are dressed in gaily-coloured tracksuits

and used to fill some of the blank spaces. They certainly add to the atmosphere although much of their cheering and chanting has little connection to what’s happening on the pitch. A lot of other seats are taken up by police, often blocking the steps and gangways, so that one has to clamber over other seats to get to a decent vantage point.

Angola and DR Congo provide a reasonable game with lots of missed chances, Portsmouth’s Lomano Lua-Lua among the offenders (or is that effendi?) and another 0-0 scoreline results. The second match, between Cameroon and Togo, remains goal-less until midway through the second-half and it takes the brilliance of Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o to break the deadlock and save a certain Midlands based traveller from a second hat-trick of 0-0’s in rapid succession. Eto’o hits a cracking strike from the corner of the box for Cameroon’s first goal, then sets up Albery Meyong Ze for a cheekily back-heeled second.

The following day provides some temporary relief from the Cairo smog as we catch the train up to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast. It’s a fast efficient service taking just over 2 hours and there are no problems with points failures or camels on the line.

Alexandria has a more cosmopolitan atmosphere than Cairo. It is Egypt’s second largest city with seafront development extending for more than 20 kilometres. It was the Egyptian capital from the time of it’s founding by Alexander the Great but went into decline after Cleopatra and then lost it’s capital status following the Arab conquest. It was the site of Cleopatra’s Needles (now in London and New York), the Pharos (Lighthouse) - one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, and Cleopatra’s Palace (the remains of which are currently being excavated underwater). Just as importantly and slightly more relevantly Alexandria has two football grounds being used for the African Nations Cup.

The Border Guard, or Heras Elhedood Stadium is west of the centre, in the industrial area of Al-max next to an oil refinery. For some reason Middlesborough comes to mind. It’s a brand new ground with a covered main stand on one side and a single continuous tier of uncovered seats round the rest, providing a total capacity of 22,000. As its name suggests the Border Guards Military team play there.

Zambia and Guinea put on a reasonable game, Guinea coming from behind to win 2-1 with both goals from Pascal Feinduono, the second in injury time. The Guinea side includes Bobo Balde, Stoke City’s Sambegoo Bangoura and Leicester’s Momo Sylla while Portsmouth’s Collins Mbesuma appears for Zambia.

As the second game approaches the stadium is not far off capacity, but then the heavens open and it rains until about halftime of Tunisia v South Africa. With no cover on our side of the ground the crowd steadily reduces, many of the locals calling it a day or taking refuge in the access tunnel below. At this point I must confess to missing about 20 minutes, and the opening goal of Tunisia’s 2-0 win, myself. However, in my defence, I believe that the West Midland branch of the Camel Driver and Car Horn Manufacturer’s Union also voted for a walkout. While sheltering in the tunnel a horde of Egyptians besiege me, wanting to know my name, the team I support and whether I know Mido. Here as in most of the country the locals are very friendly and chatty. Sharing seems to be a way of life as I am constantly offered free items of food, cigarettes, souvenir coins etc. The problem is you can’t always tell the difference between the genuine people and those who are after a handout (baksheesh) or trying to sell you something. Merely pointing out a pyramid or train can lead to the production of an outstretched palm!

Stop overnight in Alexandria, an en-suite room at the Union Hotel costing the outrageous sum of £3 per head, then the following morning take the bus across the Nile Delta to Port Said.

Port Said was only established in 1869 with the building of the Suez Canal. It formerly had a reputation for smuggling, vice and dirty postcards, but nowadays is a bustling city of 400,000 people, a free port and a beach resort. Pleasant stroll along the seafront and take the return ferry crossing the Canal to Port Fouad which though still in Egypt, is part of the Asian continent.

The Port Said Stadium is in 23^rd July Street in the New Olympic City Zone close to the centre. Opened in 1954, it holds 24,000 and is home to the El Masry club. The ground has 4 separate stands round a running track. Only the main stand is covered but no rain tonight thankfully. The curved end sections, particularly at one end, are a long way back from the pitch. This is also partially the case on the uncovered side, where the seats are placed on wide shallow terraces.

One vendor’s supply of 25 pence hats are bought up and will probably end up in the hands of English speedway fans!

The first match is Ghana v Senegal and is pretty poor fare. Ghana, missing star player Michael Essien, score a good goal through Matthew Amoah but do little else, while Senegal with 6 Premiership players in their squad, do little throughout..

Nigeria,s clash with Zimbabwe also starts poorly, but Nigeria step it up in the second half to score twice, the second coming from the much fought over John Obi Mikel. At least the atmosphere generated by the fans of the competing nations is impressive, with plenty of colourful costumes, drums and trumpets.

Require a late night service taxi to get back to Cairo. Service taxis are a cross between buses and ordinary taxis. They are 7 or 11-seater, ply regular routes, leave when full and are normally a very fast and cheap form of travel. Tonight however, our party of three goes to the wrong place initially, no one else seems to want to go to Cairo and the drivers appear to have a cartel in operation. Haggling only reduces the proposed fare slightly, so we turn to walk away. One driver approaches and offers to take us to Cairo for a sensible price. At this point all hell breaks loose with a massive row, pushing, shoving, finger waving and shouting involving all the other drivers. Eventually after several false starts and various moving about of seats, bags and passengers we head off. About 10 miles after the customs checkpoint we find out the reason why this driver was keen to take us. During a brief roadside stop various shirts, fabrics and other goods are produced from under the seats at the rear of the car in true Paul Daniels style and passed on to his customer (No it wasn’t the lovely Debbie McGee).

Back in Cairo for the next two matches. More sightseeing: a boat trip up the Nile to the start of the Delta and the Egyptian Museum with Tutenkhamun’s mask among the attractions, by day.

By night, the final round of group matches gets underway. The hosts take on Ivory Coast at the International Stadium, needing a point to secure further progress. The ground is more than full to capacity with the gangways and aisles packed in addition to the regular seating. By far the best game we see on our trip, Egypt victorious 3-1 although the opposition, having already qualified, do rest one or two key players. Cue even more car horns than usual.

Back to the Military Academy ground on the following evening. Cameroon totally outplay DR Congo. They win 2-0 with Chelsea’s Geremi and a 5^th goal of the tournament for Samuel Eto’o decisive. As news filters through from the other game suggesting that a 2-0 defeat is likely to be enough for Congo to go through, the last 10 minutes or so is a complete non-event.

A return visit to Alexandria is then required for the oldest ground being used in the tournament and my personal favourite. The Alexandria Stadium is in Hay Charq, close to the railway station. It was originally opened in 1928, but refurbished for this tournament, holds almost 19,700 and is used by both Alexandria’s Liga 1 clubs. It’s a bit of a mishmash of stands and different architecture but has all the more character for it. Curved end sections are set well back from the pitch and one side has steeply raked open seating, but the main side has 4 separate covered stands, all adorned with doric columns and arched awnings. There is also an impressive Marble Arch type column at one end and a section of old ruined wall in one corner. Nice ground, shame about the match! Zambia and South Africa, both already eliminated, put on a poor display, Zambia edging it 1-0.

Our final action of the tournament is in the city of Ismailya, located between Cairo and Port Said on the shores of Lake Timsah. Many colonial style villas that used to house European employees of the Suez Canal Company can still be seen. The Ismailya Stadium is in Roda Street just north of the city centre. 2-tier stands on the sides, with the main side covered. Single-tier end sections curved round the almost obligatory running track. In a group where all 4 teams have a chance of progressing, the first hour of Ghana v Zimbabwe is very tedious. Things then liven up considerably. Zimbabwe score twice and have a third disallowed. News comes in from the other game in which Senegal take the lead but Nigeria come back to win 2-1. A 4-goal win would have allowed Zimbabwe to progress, but Ghana get a late consolation effort. A further score and Ghana could have gone through, but it stays 2-1 so Nigeria and Senegal complete the quarter finalists.

Overall, a most enjoyable trip, despite the quality of some of the football and losing my camera on the last day. For the record, Egypt go on to win the tournament, defeating Ivory Coast on penalties in the final. My tip Cameroon, go out in the quarter-finals also on penalties. All 22 players score from the spot, but in the second round, Drogba converts for the Ivory Coast, but Eto’o of all people, misses.