Sadio Mane will miss Senegal’s “first games” at the World Cup due to a leg injury, according to a football federation official.
Despite being forced off in a club game last week, the Bayern Munich forward was named to the Teranga Lions squad for Qatar. The German champions said Mane had a “right fibula injury,” but Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said Mane does not need surgery.
The African champions will kick off their Group A campaign against the Netherlands on Monday, followed by games against Qatar (November 25) and Ecuador (November 29).
“We will have to rely on playing the first games without Sadio and win without Sadio,” Senegal football federation (FSF) board member Abdoulaye Sow informed pressmen.
Sow went on to say that Senegal should not worry too much about the absence of the two-time African Footballer of the Year.
Mane is Senegal’s talisman, having scored the winning penalty when the Teranga Lions became continental champions for the first time in February, defeating Egypt in a shoot-out in the Africa Cup of Nations final. Then going on to defeat the same opponent in a play-off to qualify for Qatar.