Stephen Dunmoye
Senegal star forward, Sadio Mane wouldn’t be fit in time to play in Senegal’s opening match against the Netherlands on Monday, but unfortunately for his team, he was ruled out of the Qatar 2022 World Cup due to leg injury.
Mane sustained a leg injury playing for Bayern Munich on November 8, which put his hopes of featuring in Qatar in doubt.
Bayern said he sustained an injury to the head of his right fibula, but Mane was included in the Senegal squad for the finals in Qatar.
According to the Teranga Lions’ team doctor Manuel Afonso in a press conference: “Unfortunately, today’s MRI says his recovery has not been as encouraging as we had hoped and we have decided to declare Sadio Mane’s withdrawal from the World Cup.”
Bayern Munich later provided more details on Mane’s injury, which required an operation.
Also, the club states that, “Sadio Mane underwent successful surgery in Innsbruck by Prof Christian Fink and Dr Andy Williams from London on Thursday evening.
“During the operation, a tendon was reattached to the head of his right fibula. The FC Bayern forward will therefore no longer be available to play for Senegal at the World Cup and will begin his rehab in Munich in the next few days.”
Senegal begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on Monday and also face hosts Qatar on November 25 and Ecuador on November 29 in Group A.
However, Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse was initially optimistic about Mane‘s chances of being able to play with the team to even use witch doctors in a bid to help his recovery.
Mane was key in Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations success in Cameroon in February and also scored the winning penalty that saw them beat Egypt in their World Cup play-off.
The 30-year-old, who has 34 goals in 93 caps for his country and is the two-time African player of the year, was pivotal to the African champions’ hopes of progressing to the knockout stage.