00:00African football has taken a major turn in an unexpected way for I think a lot of people.
00:05We have to speak about Congo defeating Nigeria in the World Cup playoff gauntlet.
00:09We have to speak about what it means for Congolese football, what it means for Nigerian football,
00:13and also we're going to speak about one of Nigeria's better players, Adobo Nolukman,
00:18and discuss whether or not we feel that he's on the right team.
00:21So, we'll begin kind of telling the story of what happened with Congo and with Nigeria.
00:26African football was granted nine straight qualification spots into the World Cup.
00:31Nine groups, the first place team in each group, went directly to the World Cup.
00:34Then, the four best runner-ups in those nine groups were moved into a playoff bracket.
00:39Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, and Congo.
00:42Those four teams were seeded into matches that defined one winner who would get the final spot to represent Africa in the World Cup.
00:50However, that team still has to go on and win two games.
00:52Because we have finally seen the outcome of that with Congo defeating Nigeria in a final on penalties.
00:59What an incredible story.
01:00But guys, what does this mean, first of all, for Congo as a nation?
01:03I know a lot of people want to talk about Nigeria.
01:05Let's get into Congo first.
01:06What does it mean for them as a footballing country?
01:09It's a moment.
01:10To be able to go to the World Cup is always a blessing to be able to perform at the national stage.
01:14And it's something that honestly brings the diaspora together as well.
01:17And I'll tell you guys, our friends that are in North London, they're definitely shouting.
01:21And they said they lost their voice on Sunday due to that level of celebration.
01:24So, it's beautiful to see.
01:25And in a very nice way, beating a very historic football nation in Nigeria as well.
01:32I think they just continue to be one of the better underdog stories in Africa in terms of their performance as well.
01:36At the recent AFCON, just their ability to grow so much so quickly as a footballing nation,
01:41especially with the way they've tapped in with their diaspora.
01:44So, they're doing it right.
01:45They're setting an example for other African countries.
01:46And just major congrats to them, especially with everything they're going through as well in that nation.
01:50And two more games.
01:51And they have a chance to be at the World Cup.
01:53So, big congrats to Congo.
01:54And how does it help them in AFCON?
01:56Because the way this works is that they first play AFCON.
01:58And then they play the qualification for the World Cup.
02:01So, how does this confidence in beating Nigeria, which on paper is one of the better African teams on the continent.
02:06I understand they didn't have the greatest qualification run.
02:08But on paper, the talent they have, which we'll get into, is quite high.
02:11How does this help Congo at AFCON?
02:13And how does the knowledge of them being able to beat Nigeria work for them?
02:16I honestly think people underrate the amount of individual quality that they have on their team.
02:21They have a lot of players that are playing in top flight all over the world, but especially in Europe.
02:26They have players like Aaron Wan-Missaka, who's playing for West Ham.
02:29Chansa Mbemba, who's playing at Lille in France.
02:32Theo Bogonda, who's playing at Spartak Moscow.
02:35Cedric Bakambu, who's playing for Real Betis.
02:39Edo Kayamba, who's playing at Watford.
02:41Charles Pickle, who's playing at Espanyol.
02:44Noah Siddiqui, who's playing at Sunderland.
02:46They're fighting for, honestly, his first top three in the Premier League right now.
02:50And Mikael Balikwisha, who's playing at Celtic in Scotland.
02:56And so, you know, a lot of people may not know the power that this team has, but they have players who are playing at a very high level right now all over the world.
03:04Not to even mention Wisa, who's hurt right now, too.
03:07I'll say this.
03:07I think Mbemba, if he had a different passport, would be rated as a top five, top ten center back in the world.
03:12Mbemba is an incredible center back.
03:14Incredible.
03:15Like, he's a very, very, very good player.
03:17He's scoring them goals, too.
03:18People don't rate him very highly because he's had to kind of spend a lot of time in France.
03:22Due to passport and visa issues, the ability of signing a Congolese player is not as easy as signing a French player.
03:28Mbemba is such a good center back.
03:30It's not even funny.
03:31I think even the route that they had to take, you know, to win brings them together.
03:35Yes.
03:35There's penalty shootouts.
03:36I don't know if you guys have been involved.
03:38Yeah.
03:38But those definitely are ones where if you win, you know, you fight for each other on the pitch.
03:42And so it's a good way for them to obviously come together, you know, try out new tactics if they need, new ways to obviously operate the team.
03:49And then, what, less than six months later, we're back at it again.
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