BANG ON THE
Klopp: Sadio’s proved he has Golden Balls and come home a true leader
JURGEN KLOPP has challenged Sadio Mane to become a Ballon d’Or contender after leading Senegal to AFCON glory.
Mane was his country’s outstanding performer as they became African champions for the first time – and showed nerves of steel by stepping up to score a penalty in the shootout victory over Mo Salah’s Egypt despite having missed from the spot during the game.
But Klopp believes the 29-year-old striker might need to do more this season if he is to challenge Salah, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski for the title of the world’s best player.
Asked if Mane’s heroics on the
AFCON stage alone were enough to propel him into Golden
Ball company,
Liverpool boss
Klopp admitted: “I have no idea. I think it depends a lot about the season – and usually you have to win the Champions League.
“I can’t remember who votes for what, but that’s how it seems to work.
“But I couldn’t have more respect for what Sadio did.
“He is, for sure, now one of the biggest Senegal legends of all time – and rightly so.
“The pressure on his shoulders was absolutely incredible.
“I usually have no problem with facing pressure but, when Sadio walked to the penalty, even I thought, ‘This is a really difficult moment!’.
“He faced it, he mastered it, and rightly got all the praise.
“He was the best player of the tournament. An incredible achievement for him, an incredible achievement for Senegal.”
Mane will return for the clash with Burnley at Turf Moor today after being granted extra time to celebrate in
his homeland. He has
just over a year left on his Kop contract – but Klopp insists he is not even at his peak yet.
Klopp, who had ironically referred to the AFCON as a “little tournament” last year, said: “We just thought it’s absolutely right to let Sadio celebrate as long as he wants.
“We all know Sadio doesn’t drink a sip of alcohol, so it’s not that he was running around through the city and doesn’t know where he wakes up.
“It was a massive thing. I saw the pictures with the president of
Senegal, the people in the streets, it’s a massive achievement.
“It makes it even more funny what people made of my comment last year.
“It’s the big tournament – we knew before – and for Sadio it was the biggest of his life or his life so far.
“For him as a person, 100 percent he made a massive step. He was a great player, a world-class player when he left here for this tournament, but he comes back as a leader on a different level”
Klopp added: “It is difficult to improve on the level that Sadio is already at.
“Lewandowski was born in 1988. So he is 33. Then there’s Messi at 34 and Ronaldo at 37.
“The massive advantage of being in your early 30s and mid-30s is that as a player you can see things in the right way if you have learned throughout your career.
“Sadio can use that and become an even better player than he was two or three years before.
“Clubs think differently. They look at a player aged
32, 33 and think, ‘We can’t sell him any more’.
“But if they are already inside the club then that’s outstanding because they already have experience and desire and quality.”