African Player of the Year Sadio Mane on Thursday was ruled out of the FIFA World Cup through injury, while Iran’s captain urged his team to focus on soccer rather than anti-government protests that have rocked his nation.
Mane’s omission is a cruel blow for Senegal, who had high hopes of making a long run in the tournament in Qatar thanks to their star forward.
Mane suffered a shin injury playing for Bayern Munich earlier this month, but was named in the World Cup squad in the hope he could regain fitness, but on Thursday Senegal conceded that the former Liverpool player would not make it.
Photo: AFP
“Unfortunately, today’s MRI shows us that the improvement is not as favorable as we imagined and unfortunately we have to withdraw Sadio from the World Cup,” Senegal team doctor Manuel Afonso said in a video on the team’s Twitter account.
With tomorrow’s kickoff looming, teams were still arriving in Qatar after completing last-minute preparations.
Germany touched down in Doha on Thursday, fresh from a 1-0 friendly victory over Oman.
The 2014 champions are aiming to erase the memory of their ill-fated campaign in Russia four years ago when they crashed out in the group stage.
Unlike most of the 32 teams who have opted to be based in and around Doha, Germany are staying in the seaside town of al-Ruwais, 111km from the capital.
“We want to develop a team spirit there that will carry us through the tournament — and for as long as possible,” team official Oliver Bierhoff said.
Spain were due in Qatar in the early hours of yesterday after beating Jordan 3-1 in a friendly in Amman.
Iran’s team are preparing with their homeland rocked by anti-government protests that have cost the lives of hundreds of people and become the regime’s biggest challenge from the street in decades.
Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh, asked by a British journalist if his team was able to concentrate on their first match against England on Monday, said: “We are here to play football and that’s the main thing everybody is focused on while we’re here.”
“We are just four days away from playing the biggest games of our lives,” he said.
On whether the players would join other Iranian sports figures who have refused to celebrate victories as a form of support for the protests, he said: “You talk about celebration; celebration is something very personal. Every single player has a different celebration and you ask about national anthem and that’s something that also has to be decided in the team which we already talked about.”
Meanwhile, other teams were adjusting to the searing heat in Doha, where temperatures nudged 34°C on Thursday.
England defender Conor Coady said his team planned to adapt to the sweltering conditions after a grueling morning workout.
“It was hard this morning,” Coady said. “Going out there and overthinking the heat or thinking it’s too hot will get us nowhere, so we’re going out there to embrace it.”
The buildup to the World Cup has been dogged by controversy, including over Qatar’s alleged human rights abuses, suppression of dissent, mistreatment of foreign workers and persecution of the LGBTQ community.
Pleas from world governing body FIFA for a switch of focus to soccer have gone unheeded by some nations.
French President Emmanuel Macron said it was a bad idea to politicize sport and said critics of Qatar as hosts should have spoken up when they were awarded the tournament in 2010.
“I think we must not politicize sport,” Macron told reporters in Bangkok, where he was attending an APEC summit. “These questions must be addressed when hosting the event is decided.”
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