Senegal’s national soccer team is taking a big hit as one of their key stars, Sadio Mane, won’t take part in the 2022 World Cup.
The Bayern Munich star is dealing with an injury to the head of the fibula bone, per ESPN, which he sustained on Nov. 8 in the win over SV Werder Bremen.
Mane was expected to still be traveling to Qatar with Senegal, missing at least the first game against the Netherlands on Nov. 20. However, the injury requires surgery to repair, which the team announced on Thursday.
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"The latest news has arrived just now, and since the injury to Sadio Mane, which happened on Nov. 8, we made contact very quickly with Bayern Munich to have the information," Senegal team doctor Manuel Afonso told reporters via ESPN. "The next day, the club communicated to us the images of the first MRI he undertook, which showed an injury to his right knee and for which we went to examine the player and take another look at the images right at the heart of the club."
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"This is why I traveled on the 10th and 11th of November to get all of his data. It was decided to undergo another MRI today [Nov. 17] to understand the evolution and determine whether or not it was possible for Sadio Mane to keep his place at the World Cup.
"Sadly, today's MRI has shown that the evolution is not as favorable as we'd have imagined, and so we've resolved — sadly — to declare that Mane is forfeit for this World Cup, and normally a surgical intervention will be scheduled very shortly."
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The Bayern forward has totaled six goals and three assists in 14 Bundesliga matches this season, while tallying three goals in six UEFA Champions League matches as well.
The 30-year-old will certainly be missed for this Senegal team that will also have to face the host, Qatar, and Ecuador in Group A of the World Cup, which kicks off on Sunday.
