Senegal star Sadio Mané has been ruled out for the World Cup with a fibula injury.
Mané suffered the injury in a game with Bayern Munich on November 8 and though he was subsequently named to Senegal’s World Cup squad, a federation official said earlier this week the 30-year-old would miss the “first games” of the tournament.
On Thursday, Senegal team doctor Manuel Afonso confirmed at a press conference that Mané was not responding well to treatment and the forward would be forced to undergo surgery.
“Sadly, today’s MRI has shown that the evolution is not as favorable as we’d imagined, and so we’ve resolved, sadly, to declare that Mané is out for this World Cup, and a surgical intervention will be scheduled very shortly,” Afonso said at a press conference.
Bayern announced later that Mané had undergone surgery in Innsbruck, Austria.
Mané was instrumental in leading Senegal to the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year and hopes were high that he could help his country to a deep run at this World Cup.
Though Senegal still has a strong squad including England-based stars Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gueye, and Ismaïla Sarr, the absence of Mané will be a major blow to the team’s chances.
Senegal has been drawn in Group A with Ecuador, the Netherlands and Qatar, and should still have a strong chance to get out of the group even without its superstar.
But losing a player who just finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting will always be difficult to overcome. Mané’s absence will be a blow not only to Senegal, but to the World Cup itself.
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