Mane will miss Qatar 2022’s “opening games” of the FIFA World Cup

According to a board member of the Senegal soccer association, forward Sadio Mané would miss his team’s “first games” in the World Cup due to a leg injury.

Senegal will have to manage without its greatest player for the beginning of the competition, according to Abdoulaye Sow, and “not whine too much.”

Since we have 25 players in addition to Sadio, Sow stated, “We will have to rely on playing the first games without Sadio and winning without Sadio.” “It’s what happened to us, and nobody would have wanted it.”

There has been no official statement from Bayern Munich or Senegal, and Sow did not clarify how many games Mané is anticipated to miss.

In a German league match between Bayern and Werder Bremen a week ago, Mané suffered an injury. In the 20th minute of Bayern’s 6-1 victory, he was replaced. According to Bayern, the two-time African player of the year has a fracture in his lower right leg’s fibula bone.

On Sunday, the majority of the Senegal team traveled to Qatar for the World Cup sans Mané. Mané was still awaiting the results of additional tests by the Bayern medical staff as the team’s first game in Qatar against the Netherlands was scheduled for Monday.

The current African champion Senegal takes on Qatar four days after playing the Netherlands. On November 29, it plays against Ecuador in its last Group A match.

Coach Aliou Cissé selected Mané last week for Senegal’s 26-man World Cup team, expressing optimism that Mané would still be available for the tournament’s opening match. However, Mané’s participation was in doubt as Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann claimed the player would be out for at least another 10 days, even before further testing to determine the exact nature of the injury.

It is clear that Senegal wants him to play, according to Nagelsmann. But he cannot play if he is in pain. The medical issues are more crucial than the ones related to sports. Both with us and with everyone else, it is the situation.

At the African Cup in February, Senegal won its first major championship when Mané converted the game-winning penalty in a shootout to defeat Egypt. Mané also made the game-winning penalty in a shootout to guarantee Senegal’s spot in Qatar.

Many consider Senegal, featuring Mané, to be the best African team to ever compete in a World Cup.