The 30-year-old injured his right fibula in Bayern’s 6-1 Bundesliga win over Werder Bremen last Tuesday. Despite the injury, Mane was included in Senegal’s 26-man World Cup squad, but the former Liverpool striker will not play in Qatar after failing to recover from the injury. Image: Mane scores World Cup play-off winning penalty to send Senegal to Qatar On Tuesday, Senegal’s football federation said Mane would miss the “first matches” of the tournament, but coach Aliou Cisse will now have to plan without his star player. The African Cup of Nations champions begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on Monday. Next up are Group A matches against hosts Qatar on November 25 and Ecuador on November 29. Mane was instrumental in Senegal’s first AFCON victory in February, scoring the winning penalty as the Teranga Lions beat Egypt on penalties in the final. Then, at the end of March, Mane also scored the decisive spot-kick as Senegal once again beat Egypt on penalties in a play-off to qualify for Qatar.
Who is Senegal’s key man now in Qatar?
Image: Will Watford’s Ismaila Sarr step up in Mane’s absence?
The loss of Mane is a huge blow to Senegal’s hopes in Qatar and will put a huge onus on others to step up in his absence. There are leaders elsewhere on the pitch but the challenge now is to score goals without him. Ismaila Sarr can help with this. For much of Sarr’s career, he has followed in Mane’s footsteps. A graduate of the Generation Foot academy, like Mane, his first European club was Metz. He also impressed in the Premier League, scoring against Mane’s Liverpool for Watford. But the 24-year-old forward is now in the Championship with the Hornets. He has shown he can deliver in big moments, scoring for Senegal in their Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final triumph last year. Could he be the hero with Mane injured?
