Sadio Mane has admitted he defied Liverpool’s wishes when playing for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this season.
The forward, who joined Bayern Munich in a deal worth up to £35m last month, was named player of the tournament as the Teranga Lions beat Mohamed Salah ’s Egypt on penalties to be crowned champions of Africa for the first time. And having scored three goals during the tournament, it was the 30-year-old who stepped up to score the winning spot-kick in the final.
One of Mane’ s goals came in Senegal’s 2-0 victory over Cape Verde in the round of 16. However, the 30-year-old had to be subbed off shortly after that goal following a nasty collision with goalkeeper Vozinha just before he rippled the back of the net.
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That strike left the forward a doubt for Senegal’s quarter-final clash with Equatorial Guinea due to concussion protocols, with Liverpool writing to FIFA in a bid to ensure that Mane didn’t feature. However, the Senegalese defied his club’s wishes and has revealed he was willing to sign a contract absolving everyone else from responsibility should he play and something bad were to happen to him, with him willing to put his life on the line to play for his country.
“When I got injured against Cape Verde and I had concussion, I never talked about it that day,” Mane told Pro Direct Soccer France, per Goal . “Liverpool put pressure on the federation and wrote a letter to FIFA that I needed at least five days rest so that meant I was to miss the quarter-finals.
“Our national team doctor also had to follow those rules. When they told me that, I called the coach and told him ‘The doctor does not want me to play but you have to put me in the starting 11’.
“I called the federation president and told him we need to have a meeting because I have to play. I could give up my life. I said ‘I know I shouldn’t play but let us have a contract. It will be my responsibility, I will sign’. If I die, they have to say it is my fault. No one’s fault.
“They said ‘Sadio, you cannot play’ but I said ‘no, no, it is out of the question’. It was around 1am or 2am, everyone panicked and I said ‘coach, I know even you are scared. Just write a letter that says I played voluntarily in case I die or whatever happens’. Everyone was tense.
“I did not sign the paper but they finally said ‘no, no it’s not possible’ but I was ready to do it so the doctor said ‘Okay, let us do a scan in the morning the day of the match’. In the morning, we did the scan, we sent it to the Confederation of African Football, they checked with the doctor, there was nothing so the doctor said ‘Okay, you can play’ because to see me sign a paper would be complicated for him as well. Thank God everything went well.”
Senegal would end up winning 3-1 against Equatorial Guinea, with Mane completing the full 90 minutes and claiming an assist, before getting back on the scoresheet as he registered a goal and an assist in their 3-1 semi-final victory over Burkina Faso.
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