The Senegal captain will sit out the Teranga Lions’ opening Group C fixture of the Africa Cup of Nations fixture against Tanzania due to a suspension, according to head coach Aliou Cisse.
The Liverpool superstar who's set to miss the Group C opening fixture—which will take place at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo come June 23,after he picked up two yellow cards during the qualifying campaign.
Mane picked up a yellow card in Senegal’s 1-0 victory against Equatorial Guinea in Malabo on November 17, before recording another booking in a 2-0 victory over Madagascar on March 23.
Aliou said about Mane's unavailability;
"His absence should not in any way bother us," coach Cisse told local journalists, as per BBC Sport . "Certainly the presence of Sadio is beneficial but without him we remain strong.
"Caf have decided, so we will not linger [on the subject].Certainly, with Sadio we would be very good, but even without him we will be very good".
The tournament will be third Africa Cup of Nations for the Liverpool superstar,after missing out in the semi-finals when he missed the decisive penalty in Senegal’s quarter-final shootout defeat to Cameroon who went on to win the tournament in 2017, though he was a muted presence as the Lions were eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup in Russia.
“We all know that Sadio will have a good Nations Cup,” Cisse continued, as per Ahram Online .The players around him have to raise their level. That's how we'll get there. If we received a card in the qualifying round, I do not see the value of counting it during the final phase of the Afcon, Caf has decided that, but we will prove that Senegal exist without Mane." he continued.
Senegal departed for Egypt on Saturday, having previously been at a training camp in Alicante. While on Sunday, the Lions is set to face Nigeria super eagle in Ismailia in a warm-up match as they round up preparations ahead of the Nations Cup kick-off.
No comments:
Post a Comment