SADIO MANE will MISS the World Cup through injury.
The Senegal FA have confirmed that the ex-Liverpool winger, 30, has been ruled out.
In a short statement, they said: ‘The FSF wishes a speedy recovery to its player Sadio Mane.”
Mane suffered an injury to his right fibula in Bayern Munich’s penultimate game before the break.
Team doctor Manuel Afonso announced: “Unfortunately, today’s MRI scan shows us that the evolution of the injury is not as positive as we had hoped and we, unfortunately, have to declare Sadio’s withdrawal from the World Cup.”
Despite optimistically handing him a place in the Qatar-bound squad, Mane has now been ruled out of the whole showcase.
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The forward required surgery, which went smoothly on Thursday evening.
Bayern Munich confirmed that a “tendon was reattached to the head of his right fibula”.
He will stay in Germany to begin rehab.
The former Prem attacker is Senegal’s star player and will be a big miss for the African side in Qatar.
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The rest of the squad have bizarrely been told “not to whine” about the absence of their talisman.
Most of Senegal’s squad arrived in the Middle East on Sunday without Mane.
Chelsea duo Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly will hope to still qualify from a weak group that contains the host nation Qatar.
Ecuador and the Netherlands are tougher battles, especially without Mane.
The reigning AFCON champion’s first game is against Holland on Monday.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
