Africa Cup of Nations Notebook - Day 11
What you need to know:
- Buy clothes in the street, wrap it in plastic bags. Dash to the supermarket to do some shopping, wrap them in plastic bags.
The facility was built by the Egyptian Air Defence Forces and is sometimes referred to as the 30 June Air Defence Forces Stadium.
It is mostly used for football matches but sometimes also stages athletics meets.
Host nation has oldest Afcon player in history
Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary became the oldest player at 44 years and 21 days to feature in the Africa Cup of Nations when the Pharaohs played Cameroon in the 2017 final in Libreville, Gabon.
Shiva N'zigou of Gabon is the youngest player to feature and score at the African tournament.
He was 16 years and 93 days old when he played at the 2000 Nations Cup co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana, scoring for his team in a 1-3 defeat against South Africa.
Kenya’s youngest players are John Avire, Joseph Okumu and Farouk Shikalo, all aged 22 years; and oldest Dennis Onyango at 34 years.
Shaving costs a limb, and no female attendants
In Tanzania, shaving your beard at the local barber would cost anywhere between Sh1000 to Sh5000, here in Cairo just a simply clipping of the hair will see you charged 90 Egyptian Pounds (EGP) (about Sh12000).
After shaving, if you are expecting that soothing, warm towel-wiping on you face, forget it. Here, they douse your face with an ice cold towel.
Even in the heat of the day it takes some getting used to. And you will never see a female attendant in the shop, to rub your skull, massage your neck and other services. All the attendants are strictly male.
Plastic bags part and parcel of Egyptian life
Egypt can teach Tanzania many things, but one thing it can take lessons from the east African nation is how to deal with plastic pollutants.
Tanzania banned the use of plastic bags this year, In Cairo, everything is wrapped in thin, plastic bags. Buy food at a kiosk, wrap it in plastic bags.
Buy clothes in the street, wrap it in plastic bags. Dash to the supermarket to do some shopping, wrap them in plastic bags.
Do your laundry, put the clothes in a plastic bag. It is all, plastic, plastic and plastic, as a TV journalists in time gone by, would have reported.
