Cairo International Stadium

Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is entertainment. On Friday 20 January the 2006 African Cup of Nations football tournament kicked off at the Cairo International Stadium in Egypt.

Two days before I was lucky enough to take a guided tour behind the scenes to some places the public don't normally get to see. This programme is the recording that I made at the stadium. There are comprehension questions on the website and a quiz so you can check your understanding.

The tour started off at the office of one of the stadium chiefs before our guide to ok us around the stadium. Here's my report.

Callum: Now to start off we're in the company of a very important man, a VIP. First can you tell us, what's your name?

Ahmed: My name is Ahmed Adbulkhaliq.

Callum: And what is your position, what's your job?

Ahmed: I'm responsible for following up and planning for the Cairo Stadi u um and general manager of the main office.

Callum: This is a very very nice stadium, when was it built?

Ahmed: It was built in 1960Callum: How many people can attend an event in the football stadium, what's the capacity of the stadium?

Ahmed: 72,668, exactly

Callum: If I can ask you to predict the future. What teams do you think will be playing in the final. Do you think Egypt will be in the final?

Ahmed: Only God knows, but I hope Egypt.

Callum: And what other teams do you think are favourites for the tournament?

Ahmed: Cote D'Ivoire, big team, Cameroon, Ghana and Egypt

Callum: How do you feel because this is your stadium and Africa Cup of Nations is in your stadium in your city, how does that make you feel? Is it a very responsible position for you?

Ahmed: I'm very happy because of improvements we have made here in the stadium.

Callum: You must be very proud Ahmed: Sure, very very proud.

Callum: Well we start our tour at a very special place. We are at the Royal Box, or what we would call the royal box in England. It's the place where very special celebrities and politicians sit when they are watching the game. And just behind me now you can hear the noise as they are still completing it, is the presidential box, as the president of Egypt, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak will be sitting just behind where I'm standing to watch the opening game on Friday.

Now it's a great position to watch the game from because from this position you can see the whole pitch. We're directly in line with the half-way line and standing across from a replica of the Sphinx, one of the famous monuments which is also here in Egypt, though this is just a replica, it's not the real thing. But this is a great viewpoint. You can see the whole pitch, the whole crowd

and it's really going to be a fantastic experience to be here on Friday when the game kicks off.

Callum: Well our tour has now taken us to the changing rooms and this is where the players will be getting ready before the game, before they step out onto the pitch and play for the honour of their country. And this is also where they'll have their team talk. There's a whiteboard on the wall which has a football pitch drawn on it and that's where their manger or coach will go over the tactics of the game. And it's a kind of a room as you might expect, there's a long row of individual benches where each player can hang their kit when they get changed and there's a massage table and showers and facilities as you could expect but what you probably can't imagine is the tension that will be in this room before a game, the nerves that the players will be feeling, before the yopen the door and step out onto the pitch. Come with us now as we take that step because here we go, we're going on to the pitch…

Callum: So as you walk from the changing rooms, underneath the stands and out, the pitch opens up in front of you and you step out from underneath the stands and there are maybe 75,000 people cheering and screaming at you. What an experience it must be for all these players when they step out and I can't imagine what they'll be feeling, their nerves and excitement – and as and we step onto the pitch, as I'm doing now ,wow, I'm standing on the pitch where they'll be playing the first match and the final of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations and it looks like quite a small pitch, I have to say but nevertheless I'm sure the players who will be playing on it will think it's quite big enough.

Now as we approach, here we are standing at the centre circle where the first game and last game will kick off.

Before we finish our tour I have to say a very big 'shukran' a very big thank you to the man who gave us our tour – and your name?

Abdul: Abdul Atif MuktarCallum: Thank you very much for your tour. Abdul: Thank you and welcome to Egypt!

Callum: And do you think Egypt can win the Cup of Nations?

Abdul: Sure!

(Laughter)Callum: Thank you!