Despite suffering a fibula injury less than two weeks before the World Cup, Sadio Mane has been named to Senegal’s squad.
Following his team’s 6-1 Bundesliga thrashing of Werder Bremen on Tuesday, the Bayern Munich attacker hobbled off the field with an apparent fibula head injury, according to the Bavarian powerhouses.
Mane’s availability for Senegal’s World Cup campaign, which kicks off on November 21 against the Netherlands, was reportedly in doubt according to reports in Germany and France, but Bayern did not rule him out of the competition.
Aliou Cisse, the coach of Senegal, decided to take a chance by including Mane in his 26-man party for the trip to Qatar, despite the fact that he knows the former Liverpool star’s condition needs to get better before he can play.
“We are monitoring the situation and have sent one of our doctors to assess him,” Cisse said at a press conference in Dakar on Friday.
“On Thursday, Sadio spent the whole day in Munich before travelling to Austria for further tests. The good news is that he does not need an operation.
“We want the situation to evolve in two to three weeks. I don’t want to rule him out.”
Mane was directly involved in 12 of the last 25 goals scored by Senegal players at significant tournaments (AFCON and World Cup), scoring nine and providing three assists. Mane scored the winning penalty as Senegal defeated Egypt to win their first Africa Cup of Nations title earlier this year.
In Qatar, the Lions of Teranga will be led by Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, with teammate Edouard Mendy set to start in goal.
Senegal squad
Seny Dieng (Queens Park Rangers), Alfred Gomis (Rennes), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea); Fode Ballo-Toure (Milan), Pape Abou Cisse (Olympiacos), Abdou Diallo (RB Leipzig), Ismail Jakobs (Monaco), Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea), Formose Mendy (Amiens), Youssouf Sabaly (Real Betis); Pathe Ciss (Rayo Vallecano), Krepin Diatta (Monaco), Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Pape Gueye (Marseille), Cheikhou Kouyate (Nottingham Forest), Mamadou Loum (Reading), Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City), Moustapha Name (Pafos), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham); Boulaye Dia (Salernitana), Famara Diedhiou (Alanyaspor), Bamba Dieng (Marseille), Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal), Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich), Iliman Ndiaye (Sheffield United), Ismaila Sarr (Watford).
