Senegal national team forward, Sadio Mane has taken to his Instagram page to flaunt his well-built physique ahead of the country’s national team campaign in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The Liverpool winger posed with some of his national teammates in a gym including Chelsea goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy. In the caption, Sadio Mane wrote: “Let’s go lioness” in Spanish.
The 29-year-old Senegalese winger posted the picture hours before it was confirmed that some players in Senegal national team squad for the 2022 AFCON tested positive for coronavirus.
Senegalese football association’s official Twitter account tweeted that the players tested positive for the virus during the PCR test carried out on the players on Saturday, January 8, 2022.
The tweet read: “The FSF informs that the results of the mandatory PCR tests carried out on Saturday for the team’s trio defender Kalidou Koulibaly, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and striker Famara Diédhiou and a member of the management came back positive”.
Afterward, a Senegalese media outlet Taggat reported that Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was among the Senegalese players that tested positive for the virus.
The report also claimed that apart from the 29-year-old goalkeeper, nine other players in the Senegalese squad are currently self-isolating due to the outbreak of the virus.
To make matters worst for the Senegalese team, Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly and another Senegalese star Famara Diedhiou are said to be among the country’s players that have tested positive for the virus.
Hence, Senegal might face Zimbabwe in the Group B opener on Monday, January 10, 2022, without some of the country’s top football stars.
This could be a big blow to the Senegal national team who have currently rated the best national team in Africa and 20th best team in the world. Senegal are regarded as the favorite to win the 2022 AFCON but the invasion of the coronavirus in the country’s squad might reduce the country’s chance of winning the tournament.
Even though 7 players in the Senegal squad are self-isolating, their game against Zimbabwe scheduled to kick off at 14:00 on Monday would not be postponed. Recall that the football governing body (CAF) has made it clear that no AFCON game would be postponed unless the team has less than 11 players available for the game.
