Cairo stages two CAF Champions League semi-final, second leg games on Friday evening, raising the prospect of a final between two teams from the same city. Two teams from South Africa stand in their way.
Holders and serial winners Al Ahly are home to Mamelodi Sundowns at Cairo’s vast international stadium. A sell-out crowd is expected.
Across the city in New Cairo, Pyramids entertain Orlando Pirates, where a sell-out crowd will be much harder to achieve given they are the upstarts still building a fan base. It’s one of the biggest games in Pyramids’ history.
Both first legs were drawn 0-0 in South Africa last week and outsiders may consider the Egyptian sides favourites.
Clubs from the country have been the pre-eminent force in African football, with Al Ahly winning the Champions League last year for the sixth time in eight years. Not even Real Madrid can claim such continental hegemony. Ahly’s erstwhile rivals Zamalek won the secondary Confederations Cup last year.
Sundowns were the last team not from north Africa to win the Champions League, in 2016, and South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs reached the 2021 final.
Teams from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco dominate African football, but Ahly are not as imperious, haven’t won in their past three games and are missing key players Yahya Allah, Karim El Debes and Reda Selim for Friday’s game.
Ahly fans are frustrated with their board and coach. The team didn’t show for a recent league game against Zamalek because a foreign referee wasn’t selected – as they claim had been agreed. Three points were awarded to Zamalek and Ahly claimed they wouldn’t play the rest of the league campaign, before backtracking on their decision.
Ahly boast the best squad in African football but the quality on the pitch has left fans underwhelmed. It would have been even stronger if they’d signed winger Ahmed Mostafa "Zizo" from Zamalek, a story widely reported and talked about in Egypt.
This would be as significant in the country as Barcelona signing Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid or Manchester City signing Bruno Fernandes from Manchester United. Zizo would be the first player to switch between Egypt’s two biggest clubs since 2013.
Few believed the rumours that Zizo would sign for Ahly until he was spotted in the US embassy getting a visa – it was thought to travel with Ahly to the Club World Cup in June.
The player took to social media to say that he “does not respond to false information … to be clear I have not signed for any club, whether inside or outside Egypt.”
But his extended post left more questions than answers as he talked about the career of a footballer being a short one and that one must have obligations to family. He says he’s waiting on an offer from Zamalek and that he’s has overdue wages to be paid too.
“I’ve made it clear. I’m waiting until the end of the Confederation Cup before making any decisions,” he said. “I just want the conversation about my future to happen directly with the club, not through the media.”
Zamalek, the holders, excluded Zizo from their CAF Confederations Cup game, which they lost to South African side Stellenbosch.
Both Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns will be hoping to repeat that success of a South African side over an Egyptian one in Cairo on Friday, but it’ll be tough.
For Pyramids, this season represents more progress. They won the first stage of the domestic league, but yet another change in how the Egyptian top-flight functions means that counts for little, since the teams have now split into two groups of nine much like the Belgian league system.
The winners of the top nine will decide the eventual champions, but few doubt the continual improvement of Pyramids, who won their first trophy last season – the Egypt Cup – with a 1-0 victory over Zamalek.
Many in Egypt sneer at Pyramids and their lack of fans, but they’re run in a professional manner and have reached these semi-finals just a year after getting into the Champions League group stage for the first time.
Before that, they had reached the final of the secondary Confederations Cup in 2020, but they’re now a continental heavyweight in terms of their performances on the pitch, if not the size of their fanbase.
But, as the club’s CEO Mamdouh Eid told The National: “Around 30 million people live in this area, there is enough room for everyone. There is no doubt that there is room to grow in this area, to grow our fan base. The right way to do that is to keep our heads down, to keep working and have humility. I believe that ‘well done’ is better than ‘well said’.”
Becoming champions of Africa would bring Pyramids much more notice, but first they must overcome Orlando Pirates. And Ahly must settle themselves if they are to defeat Sundowns.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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The specs
The specs: 2019 Audi Q8
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 340hp @ 3,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Eyasses squad
Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)
Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)
Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)
Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)
Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)
Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
