The Senegalese nation has been left on tenterhooks since Sadio Mane limped off a Bundesliga game less than two weeks to the Teranga Lions’ World Cup opener against the Netherlands in Qatar.
Mane’s presence on the pitch lasted just 13 minutes as his team Bayern Munich ran out 6-1 winners against Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen leaving Senegalese mortified especially after reports surfaced suggesting that he may miss the World Cup.
Several hours later serious doubt still hovers around the participation of the Senegal captain in Qatar over an injury he picked up after an apparently innocuous challenge on an opponent left the former Liverpool player coming worse off with a knee problem.
It first appeared as a slight knock which nevertheless forced him to sit on the turf before finally limping off after indicating the troubled knee, leaving his compatriots on edge over his prospects with Senegal’s third World Cup.
Mané, at the edge of the field, witnessed Cameroonian Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting miss a penalty he may have taken if he had remained on the field of play.
For a short time, the 2022 Ballon d’Or runners-up received care from the Bavarian medical staff before resuming his place on the left side of the attack line. But he had to be replaced by Leroy Sané after it became clear he could not carry on playing.
News of his injury spread immediately around the world none more so than in Senegal where Sadio Mané is the soul of the national team of which he is the top scorer in the history of the Teranga Lions (34 in 93 caps) and undeniably the playmaker for the current African Nations Cup champions.
The benchmark French sport daily L’Équipe dropped a bombshell on Wednesday when it first announced that the injury makes Mane a doubt for the World Cup without saying exactly the nature of the injury.
Bayern Munich issued a statement on their website on Wednesday to the effect that Mane had “injured the head of the right fibula” and added that other examinations will follow in the coming days to find out the duration of his unavailability to play.
They also said contact will be made with the medical team of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF).
But many Senegalese were incredulous about Mane missing the World Cup, refusing to believe that their talisman on whom they place so much for the Teranga Lions’ ambition of doing better than their semifinal success in 2002 would be racing to be fit in time for the football showpiece.
Despite clouds of doubt still hanging over playing a part in the World Cup, what is certain is that the striker will not play when Bayern take to the field against Bundesliga rivals Schalke on Saturday, with the knee injury ruling him out of that contest.
On Twitter, President Macky Sall dropped a sonorous tweet wishing ‘Lionheart” Mane a speedy recovery.
National coach Aliou Cissé will face the press to unveil his final list for the tournament on Friday.
The dreadlock technician, who has been managing the Teranga Lion since March 4, 2015, has built his team around Sadio Mané (30).
The player who began professional football with Senegal’s Génération Foot, on the outskirts of Dakar, is the alpha and omega of a generation that goes to Qatar with great hopes of achieving what no other African nation has managed in the 90 year history of the tournament.
Eliminated for its collection of yellow cards in the first round of the tournament in Russia four years ago, anything short of reaching the quarterfinal would be considered a failure by the Senegalese public.
Senegal, the reigning African champions are in Group A along with hosts Qatar, South Americans Ecuador and perennial underachievers the Netherlands.
The Lions will play the Oranje on November 21 before playing the host country four days later.
On November 29, Cisse’s charges will face the Ecuadorian to complete the group stage.
For now, seventeen million Senegalese are holding their breath.
Without Sadio Mané, their national side often struggle to impact games on a positive note.
Their attacking prowess is largely dependent on the two-time Best African Player of the Year (2019 and 2022).
APA