African Football Discussion Thread: {Current Topic: 👉 AFCON 2027 ⚽⚽}.

[Davidvictorson]

This is almost similar to what happened at the time that the super eagles started their world cup qualifications. the likes of victor osimehn and some key players were missing at the early stage of the qualification and by the time the time they returned back, the damages had already been done. The super eagles have to learn how to survive without him because this is extremely necessary. if the other front guys cant take advantage of his absence to show that they are equally capable of scoring goals and helping the nation qualify for the African cup of nations.

If when a key player goes on injury the team loose out on qualification games that are ideally less demanding, then it means that we don't have a tea, to even start with.

Did you know that I was going to make a similar comment because this was also the same line of thought I had too.
The team needs to learn how to play without a super-star because just as you have already said one day, the super-stars will be unavoidably absent.
Having a super star in the team doesn't equal a win ...we have already seen that happen over and over again. What truly makes the difference is when everyone plays as a team. Simply put teamwork.
I strongly believe that we can beat any team without the likes of Osimhen if we can play as a team.

[Wiwo]

The Falconets were outstanding in competing, beating top teams like England. Kafayat did the damage. There was no reason for that reckless tackle. She allowed emotional spikes to override her logical reasoning.

I dey dumbfounded like this because the pressure the Super Falconets gave to the Colombia FC yesterday was very high yet the Super Falconets loss that game. They didn't have the luck to win, but they played. I was having the full assurance for the girls to win the match but what an irony. It was painful. All is well. The worst part was the goal was scored at the the last minute of the game which was 90+2 and the extra minutes was 4. So before the ball return back to the Colombia FC area, ball has finished. Come and see cry.

This is where you learn that football is not about pressure alone but about tactical calculations and plays, the only thing that counts is the amount of goals a team scores.

The Flaconent doesn't have much pressure in the striking line and this affected their abilities to make use of early chances like they did in the semi finals and wining 3:0.

Colombia is a strong team, and they focus should have been more on goals instead of good passes and prolonged ball possession.

[knowngunman]

Normally our women are always making us proud, they played incredibly well today. I was surprised that they scored 3 goals goals today, I didn’t even expect them to win, and even if they going to win, I was expecting a slight goal margin, but they scored 3 goals in the market, and they proceeded to quarter final of the competition. I just hope the super falcons will continue to make us happy, I just hope they will be able to win the World Cup. For them to be able to win England, then they should be able to win any team that faces them now.

If you compare the super eagle and the super falcons, the latter is the one that usually make us proud at international level but the former is the one that usually attracts more attention. This girls have different mentality from our super eagle players. They're playing for the love of the country despite the less attention and support from the government but see how confident they normally play. The English women are the top 4 in the world ranking but our ladies faced them with composure beating them 3-0 comfortably. Sadly we couldn't make it pass quarter final. The Colombia women ended our dream yesterday defeating our ladies 1-0.

[SuperBitMan]

This is almost similar to what happened at the time that the super eagles started their world cup qualifications. the likes of victor osimehn and some key players were missing at the early stage of the qualification and by the time the time they returned back, the damages had already been done. The super eagles have to learn how to survive without him because this is extremely necessary. if the other front guys cant take advantage of his absence to show that they are equally capable of scoring goals and helping the nation qualify for the African cup of nations.

If when a key player goes on injury the team loose out on qualification games that are ideally less demanding, then it means that we don't have a tea, to even start with.

I strongly believe that we can beat any team without the likes of Osimhen if we can play as a team.

You are right, without him on the team we can actually do better and beat any team we play with.
In football, the most important thing is to work as a team, if everyone can put in their best and work as a team, they are going to achieve good and better results.

Having star players is not the most important thing in football or in a team take for instance look at what is happening right now in Real Madrid, they have a lot of star players, but are still finding it difficult to win matches and that is because they are not working as a team, teamwork is very important if you want to win matches.

[Sandra_hakeem]

I strongly believe that we can beat any team without the likes of Osimhen if we can play as a team.

You are right, without him on the team we can actually do better and beat any team we play with.
In football, the most important thing is to work as a team, if everyone can put in their best and work as a team, they are going to achieve good and better results.
Having star players is not the most important thing in football or in a team take for instance look at what is happening right now in Real Madrid, they have a lot of star players, but are still finding it difficult to win matches and that is because they are not working as a team, teamwork is very important if you want to win matches.

I haven't lost faith in the team at all, but I hope we get to see a different outcome this time around. That being said, they will be made to face Madagascar in 4 days and I don't know how prepared they are. The fact that a team records a loss sometimes has nothing to do with Star players. The experience matter a lot in a qualification stage like this. Imo, Osimhen should not be left of the squad.

Both teams have already met 3 times or more in official international matches and Madagascar had the most recent wins.
Can that play a part in boosting their confidence? Yes. Can it stop our national team from recording their first victory in this qualification round against them, and possibly Guinea-bissau? No.

[Salahmu]

I dey dumbfounded like this because the pressure the Super Falconets gave to the Colombia FC yesterday was very high yet the Super Falconets loss that game. They were not having the luck to win but they played. I was having the full assurance for the girls to win the match but what an irony. It was painful. All is well. The worst part was the goal was scored at the the last minute of the game which was 90+2 and the extra minutes was 4. So before the ball return back to the Colombia FC area, ball has finished. Come and see cry.

Lol, definitely it calls for crying because from the time they dominated the match was when they already believe that the victory was for them so even if it was already late they still believe that any extra minutes they give them they would still be at advantage but unfortunately seeing how it turn out actually broke a lot of them into tears for having to leave the league when they did not expected, even  when Mafisere gave them more stress from the red card she had during the tough minutes on the game they still controls the match, so indeed they were impressive on the women's World Cup and at least we also know that Columbia didn't win because of having a better squad than Super Falconets.

[Different patterns]

The Nigerian supper Eagles are going to be facing some set back if Victor Osimen is not featured in the coming match against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau the African cup of nations qualifiers match slated for 25,th September and 29 September, his club have sent for the National coach to exclude Victor Osimen from the player's to feature in the upcoming game, and if that happens the super eagles are going to face strong opponents and without one of the stricker.

Victor Osimen is currently suffering from injury and won't be playing some of his club's up coming matches at club side, but the Nigerian football body have rejected to demand from the club saying Victor Osimen can't be absent from the matches considering the position he plays for the National team.

His team actually reached an agreement to keep him out of the matches till he gets fit to play.
Awoniyi was picked by Chelles to replace osimhem which is not a bad idea but I am still wondering why Kelechi Iheanacho does not get invite by the national team to feature in national matches both home and abroad for the national team.  He is a good player and I see no reasons why he should be ignored.

Victor Osimehn needs to recover fast from this injury, this was what happened the last time in the World Cup and Afcon qualifiers and before they could knew what was happening it was almost late for Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup after dropping points during the early stages of the qualifiers. I think right now, the Victor Osimehn effect in Galaterssary is also here in the super eagles team. We can see how Galatasaray have been struggling to win matches ever since Osimehn gets injured and there’s every likelihood it will happen to the super Eagles and before they could realize themselves it’s already late and it is capable of causing them to miss out in the next Afcon the same way they missed out in the last World Cup. After that heavy disappointment by the super eagles failure to qualify for the World Cup, they need to get back to winning ways immediately and they don’t have any reason to struggle to qualify from this group but With the way things are still going regarding this absence of Victor Osimehn they might be regretting later.

The coach made it clear that he wants to invite players who are playing in the top tier leagues and not second divisions, so I’m not surprised if the coach did not invite Kelechi Iheanacho to the super eagles because he’s playing in the second tier Turkish league even though he’s scoring lots of goals there currently, that’s not the standard for a player leading an attack of the super eagles. There are so many good players in that position currently in the super eagles who are playing in top tier division and it will be better to invite those players. The competition is very high now in the super eagles, you can’t be playing at a lower division and still expect to lead the attack of the super eagles.

Missing Osimhen in the squad is something that will cause us, we have seen that before and we need to also improve by building a team that's solid and doesn't rely on only one player but a collective effort or brilliance and tactics that works and also the authorities need to make sure the players are well taken care of, because that will motivate them to do well in each game and they will definitely be passionate on winning something for the country but when you play for your country and you are not well taken care of or you are promised something but takes time to come into actualisation is very discouraging especially what happened in the last afcon game where players and staffs were not paid because their last game allowances and they said they are not going to travel untill they receive their alert is something we should not be proud of a nation, I believe the authorities to the team need to do better and right now, I pray we qualify for the afcon tournament and also when the world cup comes, we do well.

[Asiska02]

You are right, without him on the team we can actually do better and beat any team we play with.
In football, the most important thing is to work as a team, if everyone can put in their best and work as a team, they are going to achieve good and better results.

Having star players is not the most important thing in football or in a team take for instance look at what is happening right now in Real Madrid, they have a lot of star players, but are still finding it difficult to win matches and that is because they are not working as a team, teamwork is very important if you want to win matches.

When discussion arises about a team having star players and not getting to win anything, I always remember PSG who has Mbappe, Messi and Neymar in the club and couldn’t even make it far in the champions league before they were eliminated. From that point, I don’t always see having best players in a team as the most important for a team to actually get to prevail in any game.

The collective effort of all players in the team and their commitment to winning as a team is what gives the team victory all the time. In football, it is more of the individual players commitment to a task all coming together as a team than having an individual player who only wants to outshine the rest and not play as a team. Any team can play and do better without having the best of players in their team.

[yixichloro2xx]

I strongly believe that we can beat any team without the likes of Osimhen if we can play as a team.

You are right, without him on the team we can actually do better and beat any team we play with.
In football, the most important thing is to work as a team, if everyone can put in their best and work as a team, they are going to achieve good and better results.
Having star players is not the most important thing in football or in a team take for instance look at what is happening right now in Real Madrid, they have a lot of star players, but are still finding it difficult to win matches and that is because they are not working as a team, teamwork is very important if you want to win matches.

I haven't lost faith in the team at all, but I hope we get to see a different outcome this time around. That being said, they will be made to face Madagascar in 4 days and I don't know how prepared they are. The fact that a team records a loss sometimes has nothing to do with Star players. The experience matter a lot in a qualification stage like this. Imo, Osimhen should not be left of the squad.

Both teams have already met 3 times or more in official international matches and Madagascar had the most recent wins.
Can that play a part in boosting their confidence? Yes. Can it stop our national team from recording their first victory in this qualification round against them, and possibly Guinea-bissau? No.

To be honest I am not impressed with our attack without Osihmen. That guy press alot and has an eye for  a goal, his injury is what usually annoys me the most. Galatasaray are also suffering because of osihmen injury. Moses Simon was even called up, I don't know his contribution to this team. I hope Eric chelle  tries his possible best to win all games in this qualifiers, we can't afford to miss this AFcon. We should have an advantage over Madagascar since the match is taking place in our home. The important thing is for our players to be able to convert their chance because I know Madagascar will try to sit deep and wait for any chance to counter and score. The upcoming 2027 Afcon must be a win for us, it's been long we touched that trophy.

[Crakryptvest]

I dey dumbfounded like this because the pressure the Super Falconets gave to the Colombia FC yesterday was very high yet the Super Falconets loss that game. They were not having the luck to win but they played. I was having the full assurance for the girls to win the match but what an irony. It was painful. All is well. The worst part was the goal was scored at the the last minute of the game which was 90+2 and the extra minutes was 4. So before the ball return back to the Colombia FC area, ball has finished. Come and see cry.

This more like a commentary for me, football sometimes is luck and that's what in that match, because the super falconet is supposed to win but unfortunately the lost to their Colombia counter part, the timing of the goal made it difficult for them, one thing we should know is the that, football can be like this sometimes, no matter they feel or anyone thinks, our girls tried and it has was confirmed that they weren't, and it wasn't there fault, no our super eagles that present us with flimsy excuses why they didn't qualify for the world cup, which they had all the opportunity to qualify and useless it.

[Mr Reporter]

I dey dumbfounded like this because the pressure the Super Falconets gave to the Colombia FC yesterday was very high yet the Super Falconets loss that game. They were not having the luck to win but they played. I was having the full assurance for the girls to win the match but what an irony. It was painful. All is well. The worst part was the goal was scored at the the last minute of the game which was 90+2 and the extra minutes was 4. So before the ball return back to the Colombia FC area, ball has finished. Come and see cry.

This more like a commentary for me, football sometimes is luck and that's what in that match, because the super falconet is supposed to win but unfortunately the lost to their Colombia counter part, the timing of the goal made it difficult for them, one thing we should know is the that, football can be like this sometimes, no matter they feel or anyone thinks, our girls tried and it has was confirmed that they weren't, and it wasn't there fault, no our super eagles that present us with flimsy excuses why they didn't qualify for the world cup, which they had all the opportunity to qualify and useless it.

Hmmm I wish you understand football game very well then to just come out here to call it just luck, let me tell you something football is not only just luck it is also about taking your chances and building hard on your stand, it just so sad that the super e
Falconets try their very best at some points is it not when you have an opportunity to score it possible to score, in fact even at their the late goal shows they lost concentration at the most important time to score their...

[Stepstowealth]

The Nigerian supper Eagles are going to be facing some set back if Victor Osimen is not featured in the coming match against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau the African cup of nations qualifiers match slated for 25,th September and 29 September, his club have sent for the National coach to exclude Victor Osimen from the player's to feature in the upcoming game, and if that happens the super eagles are going to face strong opponents and without one of the stricker.

Victor Osimen is currently suffering from injury and won't be playing some of his club's up coming matches at club side, but the Nigerian football body have rejected to demand from the club saying Victor Osimen can't be absent from the matches considering the position he plays for the National team.

I see no reason why he cannot be absent form the game, we have many strikers in the Super Eagles team, that is not an area of the team where we are lacking. There are options of strikers that could fill in that position and although they will not offer the same goal threats as Victor Osimhen will carry, they are still capable in their own way of scoring goals and helping the Soccer Eagles achieve the results they intend to achieve in these two games. I think the Super Eagles should mature up to the level where they do not need to depend on any player but collectively they should put efforts to play as a team because team effort always surpasses individual efforts in a team.

[Iamgoat]

When discussion arises about a team having star players and not getting to win anything, I always remember PSG who has Mbappe, Messi and Neymar in the club and couldn’t even make it far in the champions league before they were eliminated. From that point, I don’t always see having best players in a team as the most important for a team to actually get to prevail in any game.

The collective effort of all players in the team and their commitment to winning as a team is what gives the team victory all the time. In football, it is more of the individual players commitment to a task all coming together as a team than having an individual player who only wants to outshine the rest and not play as a team. Any team can play and do better without having the best of players in their team.

Some times the fault is not from the players themselves but from the manager. Having the ability to manage your players for who they are, understanding their strengths and weaknesses and the positions they know how to play the most are important, what can even be more effective is understanding their characters and how such attitudes can strengthen the team or weaken them in some cases is also as important. Some players are overly selfish while some are generous, identify such players and know when and how to put them in the game. These are things you need to consider when bringing a manager to manage a team as rich as PSG those days when they had one of the biggest composition of forward players. So it is not ultimately about having a Messi or a Neymar and Mbappe in a game, it is also knowing what formations work and how to substitute them when the need arises.

[EL MOHA]

If you compare the super eagle and the super falcons, the latter is the one that usually make us proud at international level but the former is the one that usually attracts more attention. This girls have different mentality from our super eagle players. They're playing for the love of the country despite the less attention and support from the government but see how confident they normally play. The English women are the top 4 in the world ranking but our ladies faced them with composure beating them 3-0 comfortably. Sadly we couldn't make it pass quarter final. The Colombia women ended our dream yesterday defeating our ladies 1-0.

This is not something related to Nigeria football alone but also to the entire football community. Much attention is given more to the male football or should i generalize it as male sport over female football or sports and this isn’t purposely because it was the first spot but rather because it’s actually the most competitive sport if we looking at base on gender, take a look at even stadiums if they wishes to play each tournament you would see how even fellow ladies watches men more. This is exactly why the super eagles get more attention than the falcons

Having star players is not the most important thing in football or in a team take for instance look at what is happening right now in Real Madrid, they have a lot of star players, but are still finding it difficult to win matches and that is because they are not working as a team, teamwork is very important if you want to win matches.

Why I agree with you that without a team all trying to win and fight for the ball all the idea of a big player is not the solution but one thing I would say doesn’t make the need of star players less important is the fact that, there are matches which are hard to win and an individual brilliance will get the team win

[ArabBTC]

If you compare the super eagle and the super falcons, the latter is the one that usually make us proud at international level but the former is the one that usually attracts more attention. This girls have different mentality from our super eagle players. They're playing for the love of the country despite the less attention and support from the government but see how confident they normally play. The English women are the top 4 in the world ranking but our ladies faced them with composure beating them 3-0 comfortably. Sadly we couldn't make it pass quarter final. The Colombia women ended our dream yesterday defeating our ladies 1-0.

Well said, the mentality of the super falcons is really admirable, despite the corruption and poor welfare they still struggle and give their best, if the super eagles could imitate the super falcons then Nigeria football rating would have been high, Super eagles couldn’t just qualify for the World Cup despite the fact that they have players of world recognition. Sometimes citizens have to be patriotic regardless of shortcomings of the government and give their best both with their talents and craft. Despite the super falcons defeat i still admire, celebrate and respect them because they keep on making us proud.

[Churchillvv]

I dey dumbfounded like this because the pressure the Super Falconets gave to the Colombia FC yesterday was very high yet the Super Falconets loss that game. They were not having the luck to win but they played. I was having the full assurance for the girls to win the match but what an irony. It was painful. All is well. The worst part was the goal was scored at the the last minute of the game which was 90+2 and the extra minutes was 4. So before the ball return back to the Colombia FC area, ball has finished. Come and see cry.

This more like a commentary for me, football sometimes is luck and that's what in that match, because the super falconet is supposed to win but unfortunately the lost to their Colombia counter part, the timing of the goal made it difficult for them, one thing we should know is the that, football can be like this sometimes, no matter they feel or anyone thinks, our girls tried and it has was confirmed that they weren't, and it wasn't there fault, no our super eagles that present us with flimsy excuses why they didn't qualify for the world cup, which they had all the opportunity to qualify and useless it.

Sometimes I feel like people forget the game basis because of the impression a team has created in the last games they have played, I imagine this super falcon won, it would just be counted as their norm but as they lost people are showing concern and surprise forgetting that football is win and loss even though you’re too good one small team can just win you with all your possessions and supper plays, that’s just exactly how it played out for the super falcon.

[Tonimez]

I dey dumbfounded like this because the pressure the Super Falconets gave to the Colombia FC yesterday was very high yet the Super Falconets loss that game. They were not having the luck to win but they played. I was having the full assurance for the girls to win the match but what an irony. It was painful. All is well. The worst part was the goal was scored at the the last minute of the game which was 90+2 and the extra minutes was 4. So before the ball return back to the Colombia FC area, ball has finished. Come and see cry.

This more like a commentary for me, football sometimes is luck and that's what in that match, because the super falconet is supposed to win but unfortunately the lost to their Colombia counter part, the timing of the goal made it difficult for them, one thing we should know is the that, football can be like this sometimes, no matter they feel or anyone thinks, our girls tried and it has was confirmed that they weren't, and it wasn't there fault, no our super eagles that present us with flimsy excuses why they didn't qualify for the world cup, which they had all the opportunity to qualify and useless it.

Sometimes I feel like people forget the game basis because of the impression a team has created in the last games they have played, I imagine this super falcon won, it would just be counted as their norm but as they lost people are showing concern and surprise forgetting that football is win and loss even though you’re too good one small team can just win you with all your possessions and supper plays, that’s just exactly how it played out for the super falcon.

I believe you are still talking about the Falconets. Yes, the game of football is a game of numbers as publicly declared by one of the greatest footballers of all time, Christiano Ronaldo in one of his interviews. In the game of football it's all about who put the ball behind the net and nothing more, if you possess the ball for 91 minutes and your opponent puts it behind the net in the 92nd minutes, that means you've lost. The girls were all brilliant in this tournament, beating teams with high numbers and fulfilling their promise to England. I wished they could win their columbia clash but got knocked out.

In all, the super falcons/falconets football is still more pleasing to follow than the super eagles/eaglets who have persistently brought dissatisfaction. Many have started complaining about the Victor Osimhen's absence in this qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea Bissau, at the end, if they loose, the blame goes to Victor Osimhen absence, right? The NFF has to do better in giving their teams good support to harness the best in each player instead of having silly reasons for every defeat and crying like they mean it.

[OsaiEmma]

This is almost similar to what happened at the time that the super eagles started their world cup qualifications. the likes of victor osimehn and some key players were missing at the early stage of the qualification and by the time the time they returned back, the damages had already been done. The super eagles have to learn how to survive without him because this is extremely necessary. if the other front guys cant take advantage of his absence to show that they are equally capable of scoring goals and helping the nation qualify for the African cup of nations.

If when a key player goes on injury the team loose out on qualification games that are ideally less demanding, then it means that we don't have a tea, to even start with.

I strongly believe that we can beat any team without the likes of Osimhen if we can play as a team.

You are right, without him on the team we can actually do better and beat any team we play with.
In football, the most important thing is to work as a team, if everyone can put in their best and work as a team, they are going to achieve good and better results.

Having star players is not the most important thing in football or in a team take for instance look at what is happening right now in Real Madrid, they have a lot of star players, but are still finding it difficult to win matches and that is because they are not working as a team, teamwork is very important if you want to win matches.

You're right here, working as a team is vital. But Nigeria problem has nothing to do with team synchronity and more to do with individual ego. Those our guys no just get passion to play for the country, except for some few players.

Because, they're all coming from a better place (there respective big clubs) where they see better pays and receive a better treatment; then they come to the country and start acting like hot shit. Oshimen, Bassy, and our goalie are the only players I see playing with passion in the team—especially Oshimen—the others don't give a damn about the team.

When I watch how others are doing crazy things in their respective clubs, it pisses me off to see them put in little effort while playing for us.

[Fiatless]

In all, the super falcons/falconets football is still more pleasing to follow than the super eagles/eaglets who have persistently brought dissatisfaction. Many have started complaining about the Victor Osimhen's absence in this qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea Bissau, at the end, if they loose, the blame goes to Victor Osimhen absence, right? The NFF has to do better in giving their teams good support to harness the best in each player instead of having silly reasons for every defeat and crying like they mean it.

Sometimes a team or club is naturally wired to depend on a player(s). From my observations, Victor Osimhen is created to carry the burden of any team he plays for. We saw that in Napoli, and it is happening in Galatasaray. The Turkish side has lost two games since his absence this season. Argentina without Maradona in the prime of his career was blunt. Messi stepped into his shoes and brought glory to Argentina. Salah used to be the backbone of the Pharaohs of Egypt.

The Super Eagles suffer each time Victor is absent. Maybe that's how nature has designed it for this period. I believe this because the Nigerian side doesn't lack quality players. But the team, directly or otherwise, still has to depend on one individual. If we lose in the two games, I will blame his absence.

[Iamgoat]

In all, the super falcons/falconets football is still more pleasing to follow than the super eagles/eaglets who have persistently brought dissatisfaction. Many have started complaining about the Victor Osimhen's absence in this qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea Bissau, at the end, if they loose, the blame goes to Victor Osimhen absence, right? The NFF has to do better in giving their teams good support to harness the best in each player instead of having silly reasons for every defeat and crying like they mean it.

Sometimes a team or club is naturally wired to depend on a player(s). From my observations, Victor Osimhen is created to carry the burden of any team he plays for. We saw that in Napoli, and it is happening in Galatasaray. The Turkish side has lost two games since his absence this season. Argentina without Maradona in the prime of his career was blunt. Messi stepped into his shoes and brought glory to Argentina. Salah used to be the backbone of the Pharaohs of Egypt.

The Super Eagles suffer each time Victor is absent. Maybe that's how nature has designed it for this period. I believe this because the Nigerian side doesn't lack quality players. But the team, directly or otherwise, still has to depend on one individual. If we lose in the two games, I will blame his absence.

It’s leadership. Some players are born with such qualities of a leader others train themselves to become one. And hardly will you find them in a team where their leadership skills will not surface. You made mention of the likes of Maradona in his era and how he led in all the teams he was including his national team and we saw the same in Leo Messi during his time in Barcelona and Inter Miami as well as his time throughout in Argentina especially in the last two World Cup tournaments we witnessed, Messi demonstrated his leadership capacity in leading them to winning the previous World Cup competition and reaching the final of the last World Cup championship. Same as Ronaldo and other more players. Ahmed Musa was like that during his active professional career in Leicester City, Al Nassr and in the Kano Pillars. He was also at some point a leader in the super eagles especially after the passing out of Mikel Obi in 2019 before he also left in 2025. Any club or national team without a functional leader is bound to be disorganised, disoriented and to be relegated