Sadio Mane's hopes of appearing in the 2022 World Cup are still hanging in the balance despite his inclusion in Senegal's 26-man squad.
The 30-year-old led his country to the Africa Cup of Nations triumph earlier this year and could cap off a momentous 12 months by featuring in the tournament in Qatar. There are still doubts, though, over whether the Bayern Munich star will be able to prove his fitness in time for Senegal's opening group game against Netherlands on November 21.
It was initially feared Mane could miss out altogether when he injured his knee during Bayern's win over Werder Bremen on Tuesday. But Senegal boss Aliou Cisse was prepared to take a gamble by naming Mane as one of his 26 players for Qatar and remains "optimistic" the former Liverpool man will play some part.
"As you know, we sent the doctor from the Senegalese Football Federation [on Thursday]," Cisse told a press conference on Friday. "Sadio spent the whole day [Thursday] in Munich, after which he left for Austria.
"We are monitoring the situation. But currently Sadio is in Austria for additional examinations. The good news is that there is no operation. This is very good news.
"We'll know more next week. We will have a week or 10 days to see the evolution of his injury."
Netherlands represent the toughest test on paper for Senegal in Group A, before they face hosts Qatar four days later, followed by Ecuador on November 29. Even if Mane could return to fitness in time for the clash against Qatar, it would give Senegal a huge boost in their attempts to qualify for the knockout stage.
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That seems to be in Cisse's thinking, as he admitted the thought of leaving Mane at home for the tournament was one he could not bear to consider. "I decided to put him in the group because we experienced this with [Ismaila] Sarr during the Africa Cup of Nations," Cisse added.
"Sadio is important to the group, which is why I picked him. We will do what is necessary. I don't want to rule him out.
"Losing Sadio is not something easy for us and for African football. I don't want to think about that. But we are really optimistic."
Mane was his nation's hero in February, scoring the winning penalty in the shootout win over Mohamed Salah's Egypt to claim Senegal's first Africa Cup of Nations crown. He also converted his spot kick in the crucial play-off win over the same opponent in World Cup qualifying to ensure Senegal's passage to Qatar.
Senegal do have other options to cover Mane's absence should he not recover in time for selection, including Watford star Sarr, Alanyaspor's Famara Diedhiou and Marseille's Bamba Dieng, among others, though none with quite the star quality of their injured team-mate.
FIFA's secretary general Fatima Samoura - who hails from Senegal - insisted: "He [Mane] has to be there!" She told Europe 1 : "We are going to use spiritual leaders [to help him get fit]. I don't know [if they're effective] but in this instance, we're going to use them anyway. We are hoping for miracles."
