A few hours ago, the prestigious French outlet L’Equipe released an exclusive that Sadio Mane will not be able to play in the upcoming World Cup due to a tendon injury sustained in yesterday’s Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen. However, after the recent official statement from Bayern, a glimmer of hope has awakened among the devastated Senegalese.The Munich club said the following: “Sadio Mane suffered an injury to his right fibula during #FCBSVW. He will miss the game against Schalke. Further examinations will follow in the coming days, and FC Bayern are in contact with the medical staff of the Senegalese Football Association.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6797793##Therefore, the Munich giant did not confirm that the first star of Senegal will not travel to Qatar one hundred percent, but left that door open. Maybe the forecasts are not ideal, but hope dies last.The absence of Mane, the best scorer in the history of Senegal (35 goals) would represent an irreparable loss for the Lions from Teranga. Yes, the Africa Cup of Nations winner has a very powerful team, but without Mane, they lose a captain, a leader, a player ready to pull the team together in the most difficult moments.Sadio Mane is out of the World Cup!Without the man who finished as runner-up in this year’s Ballon d’Or, Senegal’s chances of getting past a group that includes the Netherlands, Ecuador and Qatar diminish significantly.The two-time African player of the year – who finished runner-up to Karim Benzema for the Ballon d’Or award in October – is pivotal to the African champions hopes of progressing to the knockout stages. “Sadio, I wish you a speedy recovery following your injury in the Bayern-Werder Bremen match,” tweeted Senegal’s President Sall.”Like I said to you: Sadio, heart of a Lion! All my heart is with you! God bless you!”Augustin Senghor, president of the Senegalese football federation, told AFP he was “worried”.”Imagine if France lost Benzema,” he said. “We cross our fingers; we have been worried since we received the news yesterday.”Team Senegal 🇸🇳 official tells me;“We haven’t yet received any official communication from Bayern Munich regarding Sadio Mane.”“When we do, we’ll also have our Team Doctor Abdulrahman Fedior check him to assess the situation. We did the same for Edouard Mendy in September.” pic.twitter.com/39uDXPYODM— Usher Komugisha (@UsherKomugisha) November 9, 2022 Senghor said that the team would just have to adapt if Mane failed to recover in time.Senegal – who beat then world champions France in a group match on their way to the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals – are in Group A and begin their campaign against the Netherlands on November 21.They follow up with a clash with hosts Qatar on November 25 and round off their group matches against Ecuador four days later.
