Mueez Ajao
– Sadio Mane will miss Senegal’s “first games” at the World Cup because of a leg injury, an official from the country’s football federation has said.
– The Bayern Munich forward was named in the Teranga Lions squad for Qatar despite being forced off in a club game last week.
– The German champions said the 30-year-old had an injury “to his right fibula”, but Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said Mane does not need an operation.
Also Read: BREAKING: Injured Mane Named In Senegal’s World Cup Squad
– The West Africans begin their Group A campaign against the Netherlands on Monday, with games against hosts Qatar (25 November) and Ecuador (29 November) to follow.
– “We will have to rely on playing the first games without Sadio and win without Sadio,” Senegal football federation (FSF) board member Abdoulaye Sow told AP.
– “No-one would have wanted it, but that’s what’s happened to us.”
– Sow added Senegal should “not whine too much” about the absence of the two-time African Footballer of the Year.
– Mane is Senegal’s talisman, having scored the winning penalty when the Teranga Lions became continental champions for the first time in February, defeating Egypt in a shoot-out in the Africa Cup of Nations final.
– Within two months Mane had repeated the feat, netting the decisive spot-kick as Senegal beat Egypt – in a game that again pitted him against then Liverpool team-mate Mohammed Salah – on penalties in a play-off to qualify for Qatar.
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— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) November 15, 2022
