World Cup: Senegal star Sadio Mane ruled out by injury
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Sadio Mane’s fitness has been a major cause of concern for Senegal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DOHA – Senegal star Sadio Mane has lost his race to be fit for the World Cup and has been withdrawn from their squad, the Senegalese Football Federation (SFF) announced on Thursday.
The Bayern Munich forward was not present at Thursday’s training session with his national team due to a right fibula injury he picked up during a 6-1 thumping of Werder Bremen earlier in November. He had remained in Munich to receive treatment with his club.
“Unfortunately, today’s (Thursday) MRI shows us that the improvement is not as favourable as we imagined and unfortunately we have to withdraw Sadio from the World Cup,” said team doctor Manuel Afonso in a video on the official Senegal Twitter account.
Mane has been crucial to the recent success of Senegal, who are regarded as Africa’s best hope at the Qatar World Cup.
His absence will be a blow to their chances of advancing out of Group A, where they face the Netherlands on Monday before playing hosts Qatar and Ecuador.
The 30-year-old has been the team’s talisman, scoring the winning penalty at the Africa Cup of Nations final in Cameroon in February and six weeks later securing World Cup qualification. On both occasions, they edged out Egypt on penalties.
Mane has twice been named African Footballer of the Year and was voted second in the Ballon d’Or in October behind Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema.
He has scored 34 times in 92 matches for Senegal and was named in the World Cup squad in the hope he could regain fitness.
But, on Thursday, Senegal said the former Liverpool star would not make it.
SFF chief Augustin Senghor told AFP there was no panic over the loss and said the player’s health had been paramount in its decision.
“We had been waiting for new test results and when they came in we all agreed his health had to come first,” he said.
When asked how the team had taken the blow, Senghor replied: “Zen.”
But Senegal international Pape Gueye told AFP that Mane would be missed.
“Mane is irreplacable,” he said. “But we do have other options on the flank, and that’s a ray of hope on a dark day for Senegal.”
After naming Mane in his World Cup squad a week ago, coach Aliou Cisse was optimistic but cautious.
“Losing Sadio Mane is not an easy thing for a coach, for the team, even for African football,” he said.
Netherlands captain and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, meanwhile, said the World Cup will be poorer without his former teammate, whom he will now not face on Monday.
“I am very sorry that Sadio misses the match because this World Cup simply deserves the best players, Sadio is one of them,” he said. AFP
