Ake thinks it’s so Sad

NATHAN AKE says Sadio Mane’s absence from the World Cup is a blow for the tournament – despite it boosting Holland’s group stage chances.

The Dutch take on Senegal in their Group A opener on Monday with their opponents missing star man Mane, who has been ruled out of the tournament through injury.

The former Liverpool forward, who joined Bayern Munich in the summer, had surgery on a calf injury on Thursday.

Manchester

City defender

Ake (inset) said Mane’s enforced absence was a bad thing for the competition.

“Not only him but all of the injuries are a negative for the World Cup,” said Ake.

“The World Cup is for these kinds of players. Everyone wants to see these types of players in the tournament, so it’s not a good thing.

“It’s never a nice thing to see when someone gets injured, so he will be a big miss for the tournament.

“But we will still go into the game against Senegal with the same mindset, even though he’s not there.

“They have a lot of well-known players and their strikeforce is very powerful. Obviously Mane isn’t going to be there but still they have very good players.

“From now on, we’re going to analyse them and see how we’re going to play against them. It will be a very tough game.

“People see us as favourites to qualify from our group but if you see teams like Senegal and the players they have in the team, it’s not going to be easy, especially as they are our first game.

“After that we can judge how we’re going, but that first game will be vital.”

Ake paid tribute to City boss Pep Guardiola for making him a better player, admitting he had to overcome a tough first season with the Premier League champions.

The defender, who joined City from Bournemouth for £40m in the summer of 2020, said of the Spanish coach: “He’s been fantastic for me personally.

“The first season was tough, but in the second and now the third, I feel I’ve developed in every game both on and off the ball and what he wants me to do tactically.”