Virgil van Dijk “Feels Terrible” Former Teammate Sadio Mané Will Miss World Cup
11/18/2022 07:00 AM
Initially expected to only miss the opening games of the tournament due a knee injury, Mané has now been ruled out entirely.
At the start of the week, Senegal announced that former Liverpool star Sadio Mané would miss the opening games of the tournament due to a knee injury sustained with Bayern Munich on November eighth.
Further scans, though, revealed more significant damage and on Thursday Mané underwent surgery. As a result, he has now been ruled out for the World Cup and instead of playing will spend the next six weeks rehabbing.
“I feel terrible for him to miss the World Cup,” Van Dijk told ESPN Netherlands after learning Mané would miss the World Cup. “The tournament deserves the best players in the world and he is definitely one of them.
“He is also a very good friend of mine, so I am really disappointed that I cannot play against him. Senegal have enough players who can replace him, but they are not like him. Mane is in a different category.”
After leading Senegal to glory at Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, Mané finished second in Ballon d’Or voting. Without him, their chances in Group A with Netherlands, Ecuador, and Qatar appear diminished.
