Ghana at the Burj

I saw some of the Ghanaian national football team this morning whilst having breakfast at the Mugran Restaurant at the Burj Al-Fateh hotel in Khartoum. Ghana are playing Sudan later today in Omdurman in a crucial Africa Group D qualifier for 2010’s World Cup in South Africa.

The temperature for the match is likely to be scorching, as the past two weeks have been around 43-45 centigrade (the official air temperature), with surfaces in the sun significantly hotter, and this is likely to play a significant role in shaping the game. Personally, I find just sitting around outside quite a physical challenge - and a short walk quickly becomes tiring. However, modern-day professional footballers are elite athletes.

I have been staying at the Burj for a little while now and would normally either miss breakfast or go to the Executive Lounge. Today, I fancied the sauteed potatoes and mushrooms, a proper cooked breakfast - albeit with chicken sausage, beef bacon, and the whitest scrambled egg ever - so it was quite coincidental I would see the Ghana side.

I assume they flew in from Kenya last night and will leave soon after the match. Khartoum is not a city where you can have an after-match beer. Though, with most flights seeming to leave around 4 or 5 in the morning, it is possible they’ll have to rest for a bit in the hotel after the game.

I will also be resting in the hotel… after exerting myself by going to the sauna!