Sadio Mané from FC Bayern is not in Senegal’s squad for the World Cup, despite all the hopes. Munich have now announced that the midfielder was operated on Thursday evening. According to a media report, there is a risk of a very long failure.
He had hoped until the last second – and with him the whole of Senegal. But four days before the start of the World Cup for the African champions, team doctor Manuel Afonso announced the sad news for Sadio Mané and those around him. The MRT on Thursday in Munich showed that “the development is not as favorable as we had imagined”. The offensive star of FC Bayern missed the World Cup in Qatar – and probably not only this one.
National coach Aliou Cisse initially called Mané into his squad despite his right fibula head injury. Cisse said last week that “everything necessary will be done to allow Sadio to recover”. At least for the further course of the tournament after the opening game against the Netherlands next Monday, Cisse was “really optimistic” – but instead an operation was necessary.
The team, which some observers considered secret favorites, must do without their leader. In Group A, Senegal meet hosts Qatar (November 25) and Ecuador (November 29) in addition to title contenders Netherlands.
FC Bayern: OP successful – long downtime feared
Mané was injured in the penultimate Bundesliga game before the World Cup break against Werder Bremen (6-1), preceded by a seemingly harmless duel with Amos Pieper. Mané’s coach Julian Nagelsmann suspected bad shortly afterwards.
“It’s clear that Senegal would like him to play,” said the Bayern coach. However: “If he’s in pain, he won’t be able to play, even if the association would like that.”
As announced by FC Bayern, Mané underwent a successful operation by two specialists from England on Thursday evening in Innsbruck. “During the operation, a tendon was reattached to the right fibula head,” said the record champion. Rehabilitation is to begin in Munich in the coming days.
Time is running out. FC Bayern are only nine weeks away from the start of the winter break at RB Leipzig, but it seems unlikely that Mané will be available again.
As “Bild” learned, the offensive man will be out for three months and could even miss the Champions League duel with Paris Saint-Germain in mid-February.
In addition to Mané, numerous other stars are missing
Mané (30) is a national hero in Senegal, having scored 33 goals and assisted 20 more in 92 international matches. In February he led his country to their first ever African Cup of Nations triumph and then to the World Cup in March. After Mané’s injury, even President Macky Sall worried about the football star. “Sadio, heart of a lion! My whole heart is with you,” wrote Sall: “God bless you!”
Mané, who joined FC Bayern from Liverpool in the summer, is not the only exceptional footballer who will be missing in Qatar. World champions France in particular have to do without top stars. N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba are among them – and recently Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku. The German team of national coach Hansi Flick is missing Nkunku’s club colleague Timo Werner, record world champions Brazil flew into the desert without Philippe Coutinho. Argentina has to make up for the short-term absence of former Stuttgart player Nicolas Gonzalez.
Other players are injured or have just recovered, including Canada’s Alphonso Davies, South Korea’s hopeful Heung-Min Son, France’s world footballer Karim Benzema and Belgium’s striker Romelu Lukaku. The fear of injuries also accompanied the last preparatory games. “Everyone had a little bit in the back of their minds about coming out of the game healthy,” said Flick after the tough 1-0 win against Oman on Wednesday.