Sadio Mane's World Cup dreams have seemingly gone up in smoke after the Senegalese star suffered a shin injury on Tuesday evening while playing for Bayern Munich.
Former Liverpool legend Mane, who left the Merseyside club in the summer after six successful seasons, had to be taken off 15 minutes into the Bundesliga champions' 6-1 victory against Werder Bremen.
The AFCON winner headed straight down the tunnel after being replaced by Leroy Sane and it was later confirmed that Mane required a scan to assess any damage to his leg, leaving his World Cup aspirations hanging on a knife edge.
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As per BBC Sport, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said "He'll have to have an X-ray to see what's happened. He took a blow to his tibial plateau [the head of the shin]. It's a painful spot."
Bayern's assistant coach Dino Toppmoller later moved to play down fears of him missing out on the tournament. Toppmoller said: "[It's] nothing too serious and his participation in the World Cup should not be in jeopardy."
But according to a fresh update from respected French football paper L'EQUIPE, Mane is now out of the World Cup completely.
This morning, L'EQUIPE Tweeted: "Out on injury during Bayern Munich's victory against Werder Bremen (6-1) on Tuesday night, Senegalese Sadio Mané will not play in the World Cup (November 20 - December 18)."
A further report from the media outlet said: "The former Liverpool player is actually suffering from a tendon and is expected to miss several weeks of competition. Senegal coach Aliou Cissé is due to announce his list of players who will go to Qatar on Friday."
It was Mane's penalty in the qualification play-off final that sealed Senagal's path to Qatar in a nervy shootout at the expense of Egypt and Mohamed Salah.
Since completing his move from Liverpool to Munich, Mane has scored 11 goals in 23 appearances.
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