Cisse says it will be hard to replace ‘leader’ Mane
Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse admits it will be difficult to replace Sadio Mane having built the team around him.
The Bayern Munich forward, who was instrumental in their Africa Cup of Nations win in February, was ruled out after having surgery to reattach a tendon to the head of his right fibula, having originally been named in the World Cup squad.
“Obviously it is a great shame for Sadio and a shame for the national team, but we need to think about the player’s safety and health," said Cisse, ahead of today’s Group A opener against Netherlands.
“It’s a challenge for us to be missingsadio.allcoachesbuild theirteamaroundthebestplayerandobviouslythatisthesame for us.
“We hope he makes a swift recovery and gets back to playingasquicklyaspossible,butwe have a strong team with experienced players and young players who are ready to rise to the challenge.
“It is difficult to replace Sadio. He is an extremely important player for our team and we are determined to do what we can without him.
“We are going to have to work even harder as a team without him. When you talk about the morale, of course it affects you.
“We are not just talking about the Senegalese people here, people all over the world are saddened by what has happened.
“I’ve received many phone calls from many people saying how sad they were.
“Heisourbestplayer,theleader in that respect, (and) it’s a big loss,butwedostillhaveastrong mentality, we are comfortable beingtogetherandiamsurewe willgetsomegoodresultsatthis World Cup.”