Senegal forward Sadio Mane has been ruled out of the World Cup due to an injury picked up while playing for Bayern Munich. In Bayern’s 6-1 Bundesliga victory over Werder Bremen last Tuesday, the 30-year-old sustained a right fibula injury. Mane was selected for Senegal’s 26-man World Cup team despite the injury, but the former Liverpool attacker will not play in Qatar since he is unable to rehabilitate. Senegal’s football federation announced on Tuesday that Mane would miss their “first games” of the competition, forcing head coach Aliou Cisse to make other plans without his top player. Senegal’s announcement that Mane would not be participating in the World Cup was followed by Bayern’s announcement that Mane had “successful” surgery on Thursday night in Austria.
“On Thursday night in Innsbruck, Prof. Christian Fink and Dr. Andy Williams of London successfully operated on Sadio Mane,” Bayern Munich said in a statement about Senegal forward Sadio Mane. “A tendon was reattached to the head of his right fibula during the procedure. Therefore, the Bayern striker will no longer be eligible to represent Senegal at the World Cup; instead, he will start his recovery in Munich over the coming few days.”
Against Monday, the defending Africa Cup of Nations winners take on the Netherlands to begin their World Cup campaign. Group A matches against the hosts Qatar on November 25 and Ecuador on November 29 will come after that. Senegal’s first-ever AFCON victory came in February when Mane scored the game-winning penalty as the Teranga Lions defeated Egypt in a penalty shootout. Later, in late March, Mane added the game-winning penalty kick as Senegal defeated Egypt once more on penalties in a play-off to advance to Qatar. Senegal’s ambitions in Qatar have been severely damaged by Mane’s absence, and it will be up to others to fill his shoes.
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