At 7am traffic is getting heavy on the roads surrounding the Baba Yara Stadium at Amakom in Kumasi, venue for the variously labeled first leg tie World Cup play-off between the Black Stars and the Pharaohs.
Some 40 meters from the main gates of the stadium is the BBC�s ace sports writer Mathew Kenyon. He has taken position and filing for the World Service. He tells me he has been here since 4:30am to set up stage.
A little further away markets are springing up � with various merchandise draped in the Ghana national colours.
Mathew is both enthused and baffled somehow, for virtually every Ghanaian he has encountered or heard is predicting a heavy win for the Black Stars.
Predictions like 2:0 and 3:1 and 3:0 are on the lips of the home fans. It is not just a matter of optimism, it has strains of patriotism too. The Pharaohs must be conquered. The same potion that has driven 27-year-old Altamir Othman from Alexandria, the capital of Egypt�s Mediterranean into the midst of buoyant Ghanaian fans. He sees a one-all result at the end of the game. But his voice is drowned by the teasing Ghanaian fans who have surrounded him and predicting a big win.
�I want to be realistic, not like my Ghana friends. I say 1:1 at least, may be 2:1 for Egypt. Everyone has the right to dream so my friends say 3:0.
�But I like this town and the people�s friendliness. There is fresh air here not like our polluted Egypt. You have green environment and you have hope. Everyone smiles even if they don�t have the best.�
<<Print>>