Senegal forward Sadio Mane has been ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar in a crushing blow to his team’s chances after officials confirmed on Thursday he would need surgery for a leg injury sustained in the run-up to the tournament. Mane had been a doubt for the west African side after injuring his right fibula while playing for German club Bayern Munich.
“Unfortunately, today’s (Thursday) MRI shows us that the recovery is not as favourable as we hoped and we, unfortunately, resolve to declare Sadio’s withdrawal from the World Cup,” Senegal team doctor Manuel Afonso told reporters.
The forward has been crucial to the recent success of Senegal, regarded as Africa’s best hope at the 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 host nations Qatar and Ecuador.
Mane 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 post-match penalties.
Meanwhile, Mane’s ex-teammate and Liverpool captain, Van Dijk also shared his displeasure over this news.
“I am very sorry that Sadio misses the match against us because this World Cup simply deserves the best players, Sadio is one of them,” said Van Dijk.
“Sadio is world-class, he is my friend and I will miss him.”
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