Senegal manager Aliou Cisse says the football family are “saddened” by Sadio Mane’s absence but his side will “rise to the challenge” at the World Cup.
The African champions open their campaign against Group A opponents the Netherlands on Monday at 7pm EAT in a fixture which will be televised live on the host broadcaster KBC Channel 1.
Senegal announce Sadio Mané will miss the World Cup 💔 pic.twitter.com/SmO4ue47iI
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 17, 2022
Bayern Munich forward Mane will miss the tournament due to a knee injury.
“We are not just talking about Senegalese people but people around the world and the whole football family is saddened,” said Cisse.
Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk said he spoke to his former Liverpool team-mate Mane.
“As a friend I just wanted to know how he was. I feel sad for him. I know how hard he worked for this and he wants to be important for Senegal,” he noted.
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Monaco winger Krepin Diatta and Marseille’s Bamba Dieng are in line to replace Mane., but RB Leipzig’s Abdou Diallo may miss out with a knee issue.
The Dutch are without forward Memphis Depay, who scored 12 goals in World Cup qualifying, with a hamstring injury.
Defender Denzel Dumfries is a doubt, while midfielder Marten de Roon has struggled with a back issue.
Mane is out of the tournament which is a huge blow to Senegal. They won the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year but they struggled to score goals, even with him in the team.
This is the Netherlands’ 11th appearance at the World Cup. They failed to qualify in 2018, after they finished third in 2014 during Louis van Gaal’s second spell as coach.
Oranje as they are commonly known are the only team to have played at least three World Cup finals and never won the trophy.
Those three final defeats were in 1974 (2-1 vs hosts West Germany), 1978 (3-1 after extra time vs hosts Argentina) and 2010 (1-0 after extra time vs Spain).
