Sadio Mane will not miss the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final match between Senegal and Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, January 30, 2022 contrary to earlier speculations.
Recall that on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, Sadio Mane clashed his head with the goalkeeper of Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha while playing for Senegal in the round of 16 stage of the ongoing AFCON.
Due to the incident, the 29-year-old Liverpool winger had to be forced out of the match in the 70th minute. He was substituted 7 minutes after he had given Senegal the lead in the 63rd minute. In his absence, Senegal knocked out Cape Verde from the tournament with a 2-0 victory.
After the game, it was suspected that Mane suffered a concussion which should keep him off football for at least a week or more. But ahead of the quarter-final clash between Senegal and Equatorial Guinea, it was confirmed that the pacing winger would be available for the game.
Recalls that the fact that Mane was not substituted immediately he clashed his head with Cape Verde’s goalkeeper on Tuesday propelled a couple of activists to advocate for better treatment for footballers who suffer heat-related injuries.
But whatever happened to Mane on the pitch on Tuesday seems not to be as serious as anticipated. He is fit and not exhibiting any symptoms of concussion, according to Senegal’s team’s doctor Abdourahmane.
The doctor said after the round of 16 game against Cape Verde that the Liverpool winger underwent a series of medical examinations which proved that the player did not suffer any serious injury. Hence, he is available for Senegal’s game on Sunday.
“All the symptoms he had on the pitch are gone,” the doctor said according to a statement released by the Senegal FA. “His condition requires fairly close monitoring. Everything is normal on the X-ray.”
Before Senegal FA released the statement, Sadio Mane took to his Instagram page with 9.1 million followers to share pictures of himself training in a gym.
In the caption, the Senegalese football star who won the last edition of African Footballer of the Year simply wrote: “recovering”.
So far in the ongoing AFCON 2021 in Cameroon, Sadio Mane has scored 2 goals in four games. He is trying to help his country to win the tournament for the first time in the history of the competition.
Before AFCON 2021 commenced on January 9, 2022, Senegal are said to be the favorites to win the title as they are rated the best football team in Africa and are among the top 20 best teams in the world according to FIFA ranking.
Before Sadio Mane followed Senegal to Cameroon for the ongoing AFCON 2021, he has scored 10 goals and provided an assist in 26 games in all competitions for Liverpool.
