They say that the most experienced athletes are the ones that age like fine wine.
Indeed, no one can attest this better than Egyptian goalkeeper Essam el-Hadary. Indeed, he has seen the finer days of international football playing for his home country Egypt.
And it goes without saying that he has worked tirelessly to ensure that he keeps things calm behind the sticks as Egypt works towards winning international competitions.
But what makes El-Hadary so unique?
For starters, the six-foot-three goalkeeper was born in January of 1973. What’s even more intriguing is that Hadary picked up football without his parents’ knowledge.
He loved to play after school and would even go as further as wash his dirty clothes in a nearby river after playing so that his parents would not know about it.
Being an avid football lover and a talented man, Hadary was then noticed by his local football club Damietta when he was only 17.
By the time he was 20 in 1993, Hadary had already signed a pre-contract with Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly.
He later went on to win eight premier league titles with the team, including two Arab Super Cups.
And now at 46 years of age, Hadary will officially be the oldest player at the African Cup of Nations to be held in Egypt.
Can his aged body still be versatile enough to keep the likes of Mane from clinching a goal?