Sadio Mane has been completely ruled out of the FIFA World Cup after undergoing surgery for the injury he suffered earlier this month.
The Senegal international suffered a knee injury in Bayern Munich’s 6-1 win over Werder Bremen earlier this month, which put into doubt his hopes of playing at the tournament.
Despite the injury, which was said to be a knock on his right fibula at the time, the current African player of the Year winner was included in Senegal’s squad for the tournament in Qatar.
His national team coach Aliou Cisse and the country’s FA had been optimistic when discussing Mane’s injury. However, the Bayern forward has now been ruled out of the showpiece event after the Senegalese Football Federation confirmed the news.
In a short statement released by the FA, they said:
“The FSF wishes a speedy recovery to its player Sadio Mane, package for the World Cup.”
On Thursday, his club Bayern Munich confirmed on their Twitter handle that Mane had undergone surgery. The statement from the club read;
“Sadio Mané underwent successful surgery in Innsbruck on Thursday evening. He will, therefore, no longer be available to play for Senegal at the World Cup.
“All the best for your recovery, Sadio!”
Earlier this year, Mane played a crucial part as Senegal won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in their history. The former Liverpool attacker has 34 goals in 93 caps for his country and is a two-time African player of the year.
He was pivotal to the African champions’ hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the World Cup, and his injury is a heartbreaking blow to himself and his nation.
Mane has enjoyed a good season so far, scoring 11 goals in 23 appearances in all competitions and recording four assists.
