 All right, we're back. It's still the breakfast and plus if you have come Monday, Thomas joins us to to look at the World Cup. Of course, very interesting games that have held so far and guitar and miss a lot of complaints, especially from the Western media. But the biggest stories are the upsets that have held occurred in that World Cup so far. We're talking about games featuring Argentina and Germany. You have sorry, Argentina losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia, Germany losing 2-1 to Japan of all countries. The Canadians should have won 2-1 yesterday, but FIFA did their thing, and they ended up losing 3-2. Monday, Thomas is a sports analyst, joins us live from Aqaibam State. It's great to have you out of said happy Friday, but let me say happy Qatar 2022, happy World Cup. All right, of course, it's a great World Cup and I mean the World Cup where we are seeing not just one of the greatest upsets in World Football, but two of them. I mean, first of all, we started against Argentina. And before that game, Argentina did not lose their past 36 games. I mean, they were on beaten. They were looking to equal the record of 37 on beaten games, which is currently held by the Italian side. And guess what? Saudi Arabia side that are always getting whooped in their first opening matchday of a World Cup game. I can remember in 2002, they were beaten eight goals to kneel by Germany. In 2018, Russia scored six goals past them, and it is 2022. And they pulled up one of the greatest upsets in World Football by beating two goals to one. Germany, of course, thought they had it against Japan. Japan scored two quick goals to, of course, overturn that particular one and beat Germany by two goals to one. And you talking about upsets, we thought we were going to see that from the Blacks as of Ghana actually had an open mind to that particular game. They had a game play in the first 45 minutes or two or two. Was it so brilliant? I don't think so because football, they say the best way to get things done, the best form of defense is attacking. All right, but he was able to defend throughout the first 45 minutes. The Blacks stars were just sitting deep and goodness. They were able to stop the Portuguese from scoring in the second 45 minutes, 60 something minutes on the clock. They are doing everything right. And Cristiano Ronaldo goes down in the penalty box and a referee points to the sport. Sally Sue was complaining. The man that was comfortable that I didn't touch Cristiano Ronaldo. I didn't touch Cristiano Ronaldo. They didn't even take a look at the VRR. And I thought, why didn't they take a look at the VRR? I mean, this guy inside they are complaining that that is not a fault. You should take a look at the VRR. I mean, that's what has been happening, right? But they did not. Maybe because it was Cristiano Ronaldo, and they were just waiting for him to break that record. And when he comes to record, Cristiano Ronaldo loves to chase them. And it's the first player in world football to score in five consecutive World Cups. Congratulations to him. But I don't think that penalty was a penalty completely, although we've seen it given. I can take your mind still in this tournament where Iran commuted a very great blunder in the box against the English national team. Actually, it was Harry Maguire that was held in the box, but that was not given as a penalty. The same thing happened a day later. And that was Sara Riviera against Argentina. Sara Riviera held Argentina. I played it the same way Harry Maguire was held some days ago, and it was pointed to the sport. So we don't get to see it. So it wasn't even as bad as the one of Harry Maguire, where he was being held and talked. You know, it wasn't even as bad as that. It's not even as bad as that. So I think FIFA are not doing the right thing when it comes to, especially, I think that is one of the most controversial issues right now in this World Cup. But for the rest of the action, I am enjoying myself, and I'm also enjoying African countries playing Ko-fi. I tell you for sure, Cameroon, they put up a great performance against Switzerland, if not for a Cameroonian born, Brille and Bolo, scoring against his home nation. He refused to celebrate. He apologized. And I'm here in Ramos. I know this cannot be true, but people are already peddling this false information that the father of Brille and Bolo has been arrested in Cameroon. You know, for me, I can just make a call from Switzerland, where we hear he normally spends a lot of his time, you see. I arrest him. As far as things in Cameroon, as far as recites in Cameroon. So it's very easy for people to check him out and say, why did your son do that? You know what happened? You know what happened after the, I think it was 2006 or 2004 Nation's Cup, where General Robert Gaye of Côte d'Ivoire, the then military leader of Côte d'Ivoire, you know, arrested the entire Lezalophon, the elephants of Côte d'Ivoire. After they performed a Bismarck at the Nation's Cup, he told them, you know, just take this guy's insight. You know, it's They just come to us, right? It happens. African football for you, you know, African football. Okay. So the upsets, let's start with Saudi Arabia, Argentina. I mean, I'm sure you've never seen Saudi Arabia play that way before. In the mix is certain Harvey Reynard. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about the tactical acumen of Harvey Reynard. All right. I listened to Harvey Reynard post-match conference, and he was still giving credit to the Argentine, but one thing he was discrediting them was because they did not come with the mentality that they were coming to play a tough game. They thought it was just going to be a walk in the park. But you know, football, it can be very easily played on the papers. But when it comes to the picture of play, it all boils down to the mental fortune cheat. It all boils down on how much you can match your opponent. And I think Saudi Arabia were not lucky in that game. They deserve a victory. They deserve all three points. They were able to match Argentine half of power, pace for pace, skill for skill, tactic for tactics. Although Argentine, they had the most possession of the ball, but the Saudi Arabians, of course, what do you need to do? I mean, football is a game where Fibo is only granted to those with impeccable execution. They had just two shots on targets and two of them was in the back of the net. That's how you get brutally clinical. And that's what gives you the victory in a stage like this, which is the World Cup. At Gentiles, they have so many touches on the ball, but no penetration. They were not able to penetrate against the Saudi Arabia. And I think the Gentiles starting these tournaments as favorites, by the way, they play against Saudi Arabia. I'm not thinking they are favorites anymore because the next game is against the next two games against Mexico and Poland. So if you can't beat Saudi Arabia, I'm sure you can't beat Mexico, who are very familiar with Argentina. If you can't beat Poland, who of course, have got some considerable amount of stars in that particular sport. So I'm tipping at Gentiles to be the biggest flop, although this was not my thought when the World Cup was about to start. But right now, the way that Gentiles play, they have the ball, they have the position, the worst position without penetration. It's quite embarrassing. But for the Saudi Arabians, prolific performance. I mean, compared to the Japanese, who of course, just had maybe the last just had a two-shot of target as well, and they were able to make it to the about four-day Gentile, it is quite a bigger win for the Saudi Arabians because Argentina had gone 36 games on beaten. But let's also talk about the Japanese side. Germany heading to this World Cup, they've not been really good. They don't have the strike force. We used to call them German machines, the effective German machines. But in 2022, it all started in 2018. That's when they lost their machineries. That's when they lost their arsenal, getting knocked out by South Korea. And now they are on the rift of getting knocked out again because losing your first game to Japan. And leading to this competition, Germany played against Oman in the friendly game, the last friendly game. And guess what? Oman. I mean, not even a football country by any means, but they were just able to score once crappy goal past Oman. And you are going to the World Cup where you're going to face stronger positions in people in countries like Japan and the rest. And you go there to, you know, I don't think Germany are not going to go further. Right? We should wait for more upset. And for the African teams, the other ones that will pull up another upset today, it's not going to be an upset if sending a big Qatar, but I'm thinking Africa will get it to the semi-finals. At least two African countries will make it to the quarterfinals. And at least one will make it to the semi-finals in this competition. I love the determination, I love the greet. I mean, look at how they're able to stop the teams from scoring the first 45 minutes. Tunisia, Morocco, no African team considered in the first 45 minutes. Yes, I'm right for that. That is brilliant. But it's also true that before the Black Stars scored, no African team has scored any single goal, you know, apart from those two goals, we're not scoring. That's what it is. I mean, they have to be a West African side, Kofi. I've got to celebrate the Black Stars have gone at 12th school, West Africa just like Nigeria. And they did greatly representing the African region, scoring not just one goal, but two goals. But is there no worrying for you that, you know, Senegal hasn't scored, Cameroon hasn't scored, Morocco hasn't scored, Tunisia hasn't scored? It's worrying, but when you take a look at some teams, you've got to call them some slacks. The likes of Senegal, I mean, it was a crushing blow when Sadio Mane was ruled out of the tournament. Yes, because I think if Sadio Mane was available against the Netherlands, Senegal would have been more dangerous. The Lions would have come out playing. So the Senegalese are still playing as they should. They just lost concentration. You saw that game, Edouard Mendy was comparable for the two goals. I mean, a goalkeeper who hasn't been informed in his club for Chelsea went to the World Cup and it was the same story. Even though for Edouard Mendy's mistake, I don't think the Dutch side would have again gotten two goals past the Senegalese side. So this is what you've said now, lapsing concentration. You look at Senegal, you just said they played well against the Netherlands. They were in control, actually, of parts of that game. You look at Switzerland versus Cameroon, the Cameronians played well. They had chances. Chippa Motting had a chance to score, and then the guy who played for Brentford also had a chance. He could have squareded Chippa Motting. They didn't play badly at all. You look at Morocco versus Croatia. They didn't play badly at all. Do you think African football has a problem? Because the Asian countries, Japan, they've won three points. Saudi Arabia, they've won three points. But the African countries that seem to have the players in Europe can't win. What is the problem? Is it lack of concentration? Because I don't see, I see teams play beautiful football, pass ball around, have skillful players, but there is no end product. All right, what's the problem of Africa? I think I've come with mentality, and I'm going to go back to yesterday's game, the Black Stars of Ghana. They had, in the first 45 minutes, I know it's a game plan of the coach sometimes to sit back and defend, but that's not how you win games. I mean, imagine if they had thrown everything at the Portuguese side from the first blast of the whistle. I know the Portuguese are the better side on the paper. But like I said, if you've got the right mentality, if you've got the ability to think that you are going to last with this players, you're going to match them power for power, toe for toe. I think the Black Stars of Ghana should have just pulled out against the Portuguese side. They did that in the second 45 minutes, and it bore fruits. They got two goals. They attacked against, especially after they conceded a goal, which for me is still very controversial. Cristiano Ronaldo converted from the penalties for, they went all out, a data argue with the captain leading from the front, getting the equalizer, and yes, they were not able to even defend for at least the next five minutes. I just stepped outside, and the next thing I'm here, Portugal, I've scored again. I'm like, from where? Even data argue did not finish celebrating when it was substituted. He was just maybe congratulating, okay, his teammates were congratulating him, and he turns back and he sees that Juan Felix have made him two goals to kneel. So what matters right now is I do not be scared of these people, refuse not to be bullied, because that's their problem. They just let this European country bully them. And the same thing happened against Switzerland. Cameroon were looking really good. Chippo Mote scored in his last seven games. He scored six goals for the Bayern side. He was the atop man, the atalist man. He had a chance where he should have just taken it, but I think it didn't even have enough confidence. For me, he should have held out because the player defender was very close to him. He should have just maybe caught back or something. The defender would have just maybe went away, but he just went on for a show, which was very easy for the goalkeeper Jan Soma. So I think it's a matter of confidence or a confidence issue for the African side. They need to believe in themselves, especially the Cameroonians. I mean, they have what it takes. They have what it takes. They have a very solid precedent. Fager put President Samuel E. Toow, who's talking tough. He has already predicted Cameroon to play in the final. That is what they should build on. The mentality needs to be right. The Senegalese side, you would say without money, they wouldn't go any further. But I think that's a lie. They've got Ismael Saar, who's doing tremendously well. They've played against the Dust side, who were the top best opponent. And now they are up against Ecuador and Qatar. Today they take on Qatar. So that should be a straight win for them. So Monday, Thomas, I will just ask you two double barrel questions. First, which team do you tip to really create the next upset in the World Cup, the next upset in the World Cup? And then, which teams do you predict to lead the trophy? I mean, Brazil were on fire yesterday. I saw flashes of a team that can win that cup. France have been on fire. Spain have been on fire. Who gave me the teams to predict to lift the trophy? Top three teams, top three contenders of this year's World Cup, number one, Brazil, number two, England, number three, France, Argentina were on my list, but now they have no way to be found. Another upset that we are going to get is an African team making it to the semi-final. That would be an upset, right? Because I'm thinking Senegal with the way they played against the Dutch side, they already threw to the round of 16. And if they do the right thing, they'll make it to the semi-finals. Cameroon, I've still got Sabia and Brazil to play. I don't see them getting past the Brazilian side. Like you said, they were on fire yesterday. Retali Sen, who scored the goal of the tournament already, in my opinion, that was a great strike. And for the offsets, I don't think we are going to see any offsets anymore because the teams will not be very careful. It was the first round game, and maybe bigger countries were on the rating the smaller ones, but I'm pretty sure in the second round, in the third round, no one is going to give a chance for that. So no more offsets, but in the knockout stages, it's going to be an exciting one. And I'm tipping Africa, Senegal, like I said, to make it to the semi-finals, and maybe another African country, Ghana. They've got what it takes to, of course, get past that particular group and see them in the round of 16. Because by the way, Ghana played in the second 45 minutes. They need to stop playing like that in the both halves of their next game. All right. Monday Thomas is also through having you. I see your shits. I see your shits. Keep up the good job. You know, Tite is not playing my ball. I don't know. We need to give him a call and talk to him. But I mean, we were telling him playing so well. I don't know if Gabriel... That team is star studded. I mean, the group name I was substituted, name I was sent to. Yeah, name I got injured, you know. Name I got injured. So they are still taking a look. Sodri will be done today, and before the end of the day, we'll know if Namah has been ruled out. Hopefully, we pray he's not. All right. Thank you so much, and I hope to have you again on the program sometime soon. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the rest of the walk-up. We wish Ghana the best, because I'm supporting Ghana somehow, because of you. All right. Right. Let's see how we go. Thank you, Monday Thomas, for listening. That's the size of our package right here on the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. Please follow us on our social media platforms at Plus TV Africa, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube. And we have a second YouTube account, Plus TV Africa Lifestyle. On behalf of everyone on our team, technical staff, the production staff, program staff, my name is Kofi Bartel, so return on Monday. Good morning.