Former Senegal star El Hadji Diouf mentioned the staff had suffered a “big loss” with African participant of the yr Sadio Mane dominated out of the World Cup. Team chiefs confirmed on Thursday that the ahead would miss the match in Qatar after present process surgical procedure on his decrease proper leg following an damage sustained whereas enjoying for Bayern Munich final week. “We’re going to miss Sadio because he’s a difference-maker,” mentioned Diouf, a nationwide staff ambassador who was a part of the Senegal facet that reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup.

“But don’t forget we’ve been very strong because we also have (Edouard) Mendy, (Kalidou) Koulibaly, a great team.”

Mane scored the decisive penalty in a shootout as Senegal beat Egypt to win their first Africa Cup of Nations title in February. He did the identical towards Egypt a month later of their World Cup play-off.

The 30-year-old former Liverpool star additionally completed second on this yr’s Ballon d’Or voting behind Karim Benzema.

“It’s true the absence of Sadio Mane is a big loss for us, our leader isn’t here,” mentioned Diouf. “Mane had a lot to do with this team getting here.

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“But this staff is a household, do not forget that.”

He added: “We’ve set to work with out him — Senegal have to point out the entire world what the African champions can do.

“Some teams don’t want to play Senegal because we have a good team with experienced players.”

Diouf, a two-time African footballer of the yr like Mane, mentioned the Bayern ahead would name his team-mates earlier than their video games and probably even fly out to Qatar to assist them.

Senegal start their World Cup marketing campaign towards the Netherlands on Monday. They may also face hosts Qatar and Ecuador in Group A.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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