Day 4(match day)

I want to start of today’s update by hoping that you guys are not thinking that we are here in Egypt on holiday, relaxing & not preparing for the big game!

Well I hope that’s not the impression you got from these updates, because it is not like that.

The team is both physically & mentally prepared; they have been training very hard in the morning & in the evenings.Tactically they are really in top form, the coach is very happy with them & confident that they will perform at their very best tonight.

The game is going to be quite defensive because as you know we just need a draw to go through to the next round where we will meet Club Africa from Tunisia. We need to play this game safe but at the same time we will definitely be shooting for goals.

I heard that the SA media consider us the under-dogs for this game, well that’s good in a way, because every time they say that, we prove them wrong.

We are ready Amakhosi, the teams spirit is soo high & the players are very confident; they know how much this means to all of us & they are prepared to give their best throughout the 90 + minutes.

Last night we trained at the Ismailia stadium, as you know. It’s a nice stadium, capacity 10 000 for the time being, they are busy renovating at the moment. It’s a modern structure & owned by the government.

They have a hotel within the stadium perimeter that the team uses to camp, they have accommodation for their development on one level of the actual stadium & their medical rooms (for rehabilitation/recovery from injuries) is something we can really learn from. I think this whole set up is the most modern & technologically advanced structure I’ve seen during our whole stay in Egypt (excluding Cairo, which we haven’t visited yet).

The team got the feel of the pitch & did some basic passing & target shoot, nothing tactical because the players & officials from Ismailia were watching. The Egyptians are also very passionate about soccer; they live it & breathe soccer just like South Africans.

Sometimes though they can become a bit too fanatical & don’t understand that soccer is entertainment & fun. I’m saying this because supporters didn’t really welcome us very nicely & one of them through a stone at Stanton while we were training yesterday.

I understand that we are seen as a threat to them & their team, but mfowethu, you Ismailian supporters must chill, we are peace & loving, we only fight on the soccer field, violence whether it’s verbal or physical doesn’t get you anywhere & certainly won’t make you win the game.

We are ready to conquer, I’ve got such a good feeling we are going to get through this victorious & my sixth sense hardly let me down.

The team was singing and dancing on the bus both on the way to & from the training (captured it on tape). Doctor, Cyril & Jabu were conducting the performance & the whole team was singing. That shows you the spirit we have in camp, nice & positive.

We got back to the Village at about 21h30 & went for dinner at 22h00. We all had an early night because we all knew what was going to be in stall for us the next day.

A few players had a runny tummy & strong cramps last night, but nothing that Doctor Maepa couldn’t take care of with a nice quick injection.

This morning, 22.09.01, all is on track, the boys didn’t have training obviously & breakfast was open. Once again Marco was the only one that woke up early & had breakfast, the other guys are still resting in their room. It’ s very hot today & we woke up at the sight of battle ships crossing the Suez Canal right in front of us.

Apparently these ships had being crossing the Canal since early morning sailing towards the Red Sea. It was quite scary to see those ships & knowing that sooner or later a battle is due & inevitable. We selfishly hope that we will be gone by then.

Bobby, Jackson, Reuben & I are on our way to the stadium as I am writing, where they will be attending the pre-match meeting & I will be emailing you this update.

I am starting to get a bit nervous for tonight, it always happens to me before a game, but I know that we will do our best & qualify for the next round.

We need all your support, peace & loving people, I am going to check the media room now & hopefully I will be able to update you in real time. Otherwise I will be in touch with our Webmaster & he will keep you all up to scratch with the results.

Thank you for you emails of support & encouragement, Management has been faxing us all your messages to the Hotel (Village) and they are reassuring. We really need to know that our supporters are behind us all the way. The team is very grateful and have promised to kick some Egyptian ……. tonight.

You are here to “Spread love & Peace” in Egypt & that’s exactly what we are set out to do tonight…………………until then & 4 ever we remain……………………. “Khosi-4-Life”.

Day 3

Friday morning

The team had the morning of today, no training was scheduled and the boys really took advantage of this privilege by sleeping right through to lunchtime. The only player that woke up for breakfast was Marco.

Meantime water polo was the game to play and all the Kaizer Chiefs officials and locals were in for another battle.

Team 1 consisted of Bobby, the Village manager, Cindy, the pool lifeguard and myself and Team 2 consisted of Phil Maepa, Cecil Motau, Mike, Herbert, a local and the coach.

The game was tight and after many fouls, penalties and a game played by our own rules, the best team won again! Team 1 took the trophy; needless to say that we are all exhausted now and can’t wait for after lunch so that we can take a siesta.

The team will be training at the Ismailia stadium tonight at eight o’clock. They have a team talk scheduled for half past three where they will be visualizing the previous game against Ismailia and discussing the game plan for tomorrow.

One thing I forgot to mention is that we taught the people that work here in the village to say “Amakhosi 4 life”, they think it means thank you in “African language”, but it’s all good, it’s part of our globalisation strategy! Instead of saying “thank you” or “siyabonga”, Egyptians will be saying “Amakhosi 4 life”. Howzat!

Friday afternoon

The players have just finished their team talk and are having some snacks, after which they’ll rest until half past seven when we are due for departure for training at the Ismailia stadium, which apparently is a beautiful structure with all the latest training equipment.

They have also a hotel within the stadium, which hosts their players when they camp.

I’ll be taking a lot of photos and filming everything so that you can have an idea of their professionalism.

I will keep you updated tomorrow morning, the match kicks off at 8 o’clock Egyptian time which is 7 o’clock South African time, hopefully I will be able to update live from the stadium, until then… love and peace.

Day 2:

Thursday was a hectic day, the boys had training in the morning as you know followed by lunch after the session.

After lunch we headed for Port Said. The trip was approximately 1 hour long and we were escorted by the police for the entire way.

Once we arrived in Port Said, we had three hours to look around and shop. The town is considered a tourist destination and most shops are duty free. But hey, Mfoowethu, the place is dirty and really old. But it didn’t matter, because we at Kaizer Chiefs make the most of everything we do and places we visit. So we learnt a bit of history and Egyptian culture.

The team, Bobby and I were on a mission to find the coach and Arthur a birthday present, so we strategically split up and managed to buy them both a typical Egyptian present.

After having coffee and some Egyptian cake we returned to the bus for our departure back to Ismailia.

Some boys like Patrick and Aubrey bought some nice black jackets under the strict advise of the “Kaizer Chief’s Best Dressed Player”, Dr Khumalo, “you know what I’m saying”. I think Egypt is one country where Doctor can actually walk around freely without security and being accosted by fans, so he definitely enjoyed that privilege.

The trip back was a mission and a half and it delayed our whole schedule. The fact is that because Port Said is a duty free city we had to go through customs. The main customs office out of town sent us to another office and no one quite understood why. So the problem for any ordinary person was, “How I can I drive back if the road is a one way and there is no other exit other than the one passing the border or the customs, which we are not allowed to pass?” No problem for an Egyptian, we just drove in the opposite direction on a one-way highway. It was crazy! The bus was hooting at all the cars to get out of the way and I’ve got all of this on tape because it was really unbelievable.

The team couldn’t believe it, we were laughing and worried at the same time, but apparently this is normal in Egypt. The amazing thing is that even though they drive in the opposite direction, don’t use indicators, don’t respect robots and stop signs, they hardly have any accidents.

Another amazing thing we noticed, which is absolutely again normal for the Egyptians, is to drive at night with no lights, they only flick at each other and use their hazards.

When I asked our tour guide, Tiger, why, he answered that the streetlights are bright enough to see at night, so that there is no need to use the car lights!

No need to say that we all think that they are crazy, but that’s what’s nice about traveling, you learn so much about different cultures.

No wonder why, when Ismailia FC visited us in South Africa, they thought it was Paradise. Needless to say our boys are really appreciating what we’ve got back home. Even though Jabu and Stanton shouldn’t smile too much, because Ismailia FC are really keen on buying them. “Don’t worry guys, you’ll get a nice camel and a donkey with your signing on fee.”

Finally we got back to the village at 7:30pm and the team was due for training at eight o’clock. Obviously we were all tired and no one really felt like training, but a player’s got to do what a player’s got to do! So they put on their boots and went for training.

The training session started off a bit lazy but ended off really well, the team is in top form and the coach is very happy with them.

In the meantime some Kaizer Chiefs officials (including myself) and some locals were busy in a tough game of water polo in the pool. We played for about an hour and a half and the best team won and that’s my team of course.

After that we rejoined the team on the training field where Bobby was interviewed by a local TV station on the game.

Even the local newspapers realized that we are a tough team to beat and headlines read that it’s a tough game for both teams. It’s nice to know that Ismailia doesn’t take us for granted and that’s why everyone is really excited for Saturday’s game because it will definitely be a showcase of quality soccer.

The day wasn’t over yet, we still had a surprise party for the coach and Arthur Zwane. The party started at quarter past ten and the coach really didn’t expect it. He was totally caught by surprise. The restaurant was decorated, we had candles and a beautiful cake for the occasion.

Both coach and Arthur gave a speech, thanked everyone and both received a hubbly bubbly (water pipes) as presents.

They were immediately tested by Abdullah and Brian who seemed to be the experts and puffed away the whole night.

All of this is on tape and hopefully when we are back we will be able to screen it on the site.

It was really a fun evening and the celebrations ended at about midnight. The guys were exhausted but happy at the same time.

Day 1:

We arrived in Egypt at 06h30 in the morning (05h30 SA time). The trip was quite hectic and the plane was full, so no one could sleep. We were welcomed in country by the South African embassy and the representative of Ismailia at the Cairo airport.

We then took a bus to Ismailia (approximately an hour trip), turned out to be an amazing ride because we got to see the surroundings and environment.

It is amazing because everything is literally built on sand and most of the buildings are half built, there are hardly any trees but there are plenty of guards with guns station in just about every corner to insure safety and security.

It is a very unusual sight for us and it is hard to understand but at the same time it was very interesting because we learnt a bit about one of the most ancient and interesting culture in the world and that is what traveling is all about.

After that an hour of sight seeing, we actually realised how lucky we are to be living in such a clean, modern and prosperous country like South Africa.

Anyway the Ismailia Olympic Village is something else, it's a green oasis in the middle of sand and near the Suez Canal. Actually, Ismailia is located right in the middle of the Suez Canal.

The Canal is 180 km long and it connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, without which ships would need to circum-navigate (which usually takes about two months) to get from one sea to the other.

So the Suez Canal represents a big part of the Egyptian economy because the government charges for the use of the 180 km canal.

Enough history now, the team is in top form after breakfast and we decided to take a tour of this amazing sports facility.

It's huge and has facilities for most sports e.g. soccer, basketball, volleyball, squash, tennis, handball etc. It has saunas, steam rooms, entertainment area, accommodation (hotel type set-up) restaurant, souvenir shop and is literally surrounded by trees and flowers.

It is very well equipped and I think we have a few things to learn from them. The government owns this village and it's used by the national team as their camp. It is very quite and safe.

The weather here is very hot, it's 09h30 in the morning but it's already 25 degrees. We have scheduled our training sessions from 09h00 - 09h45 every morning to overcome the heat and the team will be focusing on exercises and stretching more than actual tactics and ball playing, because of the heat.

The main training session is at 20h00 at night when the heat cools down, which is perfect timing for the players can really perform. The evening is delightfully cool with a nice breeze, even sleeping is a pleasure.

Going back to our first day, after breakfast the team went to rest, Bobby, Abdulla, Phil & myself went to the city to buy things and look for an internet cafe so we can keep all our supporters updated on our trip.

The city is very small and antique. The one thing that really captured our attention is the way in which the Egyptians drive.

Mfowethu, they are crazy. They hardly obey any road laws, like not stopping at the robots or stops signs, instead they hoot at every intersection to advise others that they are crossing.

They change lanes without indicating, it's hectic S'bali. We are all fighting to sit in the back seat because you might just die from a heart attack if you sitting in front.

The evening session was very exciting and fun, as you will see from the video we compiled just for you. The boys really enjoyed themselves. The media was also there trying to get a scoop and they were very interested in Jabu Pule.

The spirit in camp is very high and it's nice to be part of! Our youngster Rene Richards is really hot stuff, a star in making, but everyone is in top form.

Doctor is entertaining everyone not only on the field but off the field as well, you know how he does! The coach is more relaxed now that his wife has joined him from Germany, so the team is definitely very happy for him. We wonder why!

Anyway, after our 21h00 (Egyptian time) dinner, we all went to sleep because we were still a bit exhausted from the trip and everyone is looking forward to our trip to Port Said the following day.

Day 2:

Breakfast at 08h00 and light training at 9h00 - the temperature is already 21 degrees.

The team is training while I am sitting here updating you guys on what is going on. The boys will be heading for a shower or even a bath after training and rest for a while before the 12h30 lunch.

We will be going to Port Said after lunch, which is located at the one end of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean Sea. It's a tourist destination, which is about 90km from Ismailia, and it's full of duty free shops.

We are all quite excited today because we will be throwing a surprise party for the coach because, as you might all know, it was his birthday last Saturday but we didn't do anything for him, so tonight is the night, especially since his wife (Verena) is also here.

We have organised something special including a cake, music and bought him some presents. So we are going to party after dinner.

Anyway, let me go back and check what is happening at the camp, so I can update you further.

Hopefully I will be able to buy the cable that will allow me to send you the pictures and footage I have been compiling of the team and from our trip in Port Said, so that you guys can also have an idea of what's going on here.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the Egyptian people are very friendly and that the Ismailia Football Club is really making our stay very pleasant.

They are very helpful and always at our disposal. It's nice to meet professional and pleasant people at the same time.

We miss all of our peace and loving supporters, as well as the rest of the family we have left behind.

Our mission in Egypt is to conquer, and get the points as well as spread love and peace at the same time!

Khosi-4-life!!

Your correspondent


Vivian