In just 160 minutes, Sadio Mane he exchanged the bitterness generated by having missed a penalty at the start of the African Cup of Nations final against Egypt for the eternal happiness of sentencing, also from the 12 steps, the first consecration of Senegal in this competition.
That’s how changeable football is. With two almost identical shots (strong right cross) and with almost three hours of difference between one and the other. The first was deflected with a great save from Mohamed Gabaski, one of the figures of the decisive match played in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The second was even more cornered.
With an iron mentality, Mané was unfazed by the great opportunity wasted so early. He turned around and repositioned himself on the field. As if he internally knew that he would later have his revenge. And there it did not fail.
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Individually, the balance of the tournament was good for him. Author of Senegal’s only goal in the group stage (in the seventh minute of extra time he scored the agonizing 1-0 penalty against Zimbabwe in his debut), he suffered with his teammates in the apathetic 0-0 against Guinea and Malawi. With 5 points it was enough to win the disputed group B.
Already in the round of 16, he was the forward of Liverpool who also opened the account in the 2-0 win over Cape Verde. And the one that sentenced the 3 to 1 over Burkina Faso, which put those led by Aliou Cissé in yesterday’s final.
a miraculous story
“I was born in a small town in Senegal called Bambali. He was considered the best player in town, but no one in my family wanted him to be a footballer. And I was totally convinced that when I left I could be. The only thing that worried me was how.” confesses Mané in the promotional clip of the documentary ‘Made in Senegal’. And although absolutely all the good memories of his childhood relate to football, there were a specific event that marked his destiny forever.
When he was 10 years old, his country’s team made history at the World Cup co-hosted by Japan and South Korea in 2002. In the opening match, Senegal beat France 1-0, current world champion. Papa Bouba Diop’s goal and the team’s subsequent great campaign (they fell 1-0 to Turkey, in the quarterfinals) showed him that despite the dramatic poverty he lived with, a better future was possible if he only set his mind to it.
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“It was after that World Cup that I decided to be better and better. But my family had other plans for me. It was only when everything in my life revolved around football that I began to convince them to let me go to Dakar, the capital of my country. My parents never had money to send me to school.” Therefore, every day he played ball with friends.
“I saw boys playing and I joined their games. When he grew up, he went to the court. Especially when the national team was playing. I wanted to see my heroes and imagine myself as them,” he shared. And he acknowledged: “When I was young, I only thought about playing in the Premier League, which I watched on television. That was my big dream.”added the footballer.
Mané was able to continue his life immersed in the absolute poverty, and only playing football for the love of the ball. But a miracle happened: a delegation from Metz went to Dakar to recruit the most skilled players. Sadio went to try on, without telling anyone in his family. When coach Olivier Perrin saw him play, he was amazed. He had a pair of boots in terrible condition and a pair of shorts that weren’t even for football. The scout was about to prevent him from playing in those conditions. But he finally put it on the court. A few minutes later he told her: “You stay. You’re going to play on my team.”.
The path as a professional
He was asked to attend an academy called Generation Foot for two seasons. there he did 131 goals in 90 matches. That was the springboard to Metz, where he traveled without telling his family. One day in 2011, mom Satou received a curious call. “Hi mom. I am in France. I’m going to play for Metz. If you don’t believe me, you can turn on the TV and watch me.”.
In the following season he emigrated to Red Bull Salzburg, where in his second season he scored 23 goals and scored a brace: champion of the Austrian Bundesliga and the 2013/14 Austrian Cup. In total there were 45 conquests in 87 games.
His explosive speed caught the attention of an ideal football for his conditions: the Premier League. He signed for Southampton. And a year later he rewrote the books: on May 16, 2015 he scored against Aston Villa fastest hat trick in history of the Premier League. It was three goals in 176 seconds. The match ended 6 to 1.
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Liverpool set its eyes on the Senegalese. And he acquired it in 2016, in exchange for €41,000,000. Until today he has converted 107 goals in 244 official games with the Reds. He suffered from the inside the 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid, in the 2017/2018 Champions League final. It was the night that the German goalkeeper Loris Karius gave away two goals.
Zinedine Zidane, the same man who suffered that humiliating defeat against Senegal in the 2002 World Cup on the field of play, had been following him and was delighted with his performance in that match played in Kiev. There were even polls to add him to the merengue team. But soon Zizou slammed the door and everything dissolved… At least for now. Before the pandemic it was valued at 150 million euros.
A practicing Muslim, shortly after that encounter a recording made of him while cleaning the toilets of a mosque went viral. His humble and supportive gesture earned him the respect and praise of millions throughout the planet.
The following year he had his personal revenge. Liverpool proclaimed champion of the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. 2019 could have been the best year of his professional life. However, the defeat against Algeria in the final of the African Cup of Nations was a thorn that stuck very deep and it was only yesterday that they managed to remove it.
Mane’s future
On April 10, Sadio Mané will be 30 years old. They say that the changes of decades generate great changes in people. That balances are made for what has been done and new challenges are projected for what is to come.
Maybe, just maybe, for the Liverpool striker the next goal is to lead his team to Qatar 2022 and play his second consecutive World Cup.
For that, they must win heads-up (first leg on February 23, back on 29, at home) against… Egypt. Although it can also happen that the coin in the air takes a turn and those who celebrate today end the month with a grimace of frustration.
But there is nothing to do. That’s how changeable football is.
Paul Lissotto
LA NACIÓN (Argentina), from the Grupo de Diarios de América (GDA).
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