Sadio Mané from FC Bayern is not in Senegal’s squad for the World Cup, despite all the hopes.
The national association announced this on Thursday, three days before the start of the finals in Qatar. The 30-year-old is suffering from a calf injury, but national coach Aliou Cisse initially called his captain and exceptional player into the squad of the African champions.
However, an MRI on Thursday showed that “the development is not as favorable as we had imagined,” team doctor Manuel Afonso is quoted as saying in the message.
In any case, Mané’s recovery would have become an almost hopeless race against time. Senegal first meet the Netherlands next Monday, and games against hosts Qatar and Ecuador are also scheduled within nine days. National coach Cisse was hoping for progress “in two or three weeks” when announcing his squad last Friday.
Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann already had serious concerns. “It’s clear that Senegal would like him to play,” he said, before announcing a follow-up check: “If he’s in pain, he won’t be able to play, even if the federation would like him to.”
Even before the top star’s final cancellation, the AFP news agency reported on Thursday that Mané was still in Munich and had not traveled to Qatar with the national team. He suffered the injury to the head of his right fibula in FC Bayern’s Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen (6-1), after a seemingly harmless duel.
Senegal breaks away by far the most important player. Mané has scored 33 goals and provided 20 assists in 92 international appearances. He led his country to their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations triumph in February and then to World Cup participation in March. Both times he scored decisively from the spot in the shoot-out against Egypt.