It’s not sounding great for Senegal star Sadio Mané’s chances of playing at the World Cup.
Mané was forced out of Bayern Munich’s game against Werder Bremen last week with a fibula injury, putting his status for the World Cup in doubt.
On Tuesday, Senegal federation board member Abdoulaye Sow offered an update on Mané. It wasn’t positive.
“We will have to rely on playing the first games without Sadio and win without Sadio because we have 25 players apart from Sadio,” Sow said in quotes published by the AP. “No one would have wanted it, but that’s what’s happened to us.”
That’s “games,” as in plural. Senegal, of course, will only play three group games and without Mané, its chances of advancement and a fourth game will diminish.
However, even without Mané, Senegal should still be a force. The African champions feature Chelsea duo Édouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, Everton’s Idrissa Gueye, and Watford star Ismaïla Sarr, among a host of other European-based players.
Senegal will play Qatar on Sunday in the World Cup opener, before also facing the Netherlands and Ecuador in Group A.
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