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Who can replace Sadio Mane for Senegal?
Image: @fabrizioromano twitter
Tonight Senegal play their World Cup opener against the Netherlands. In their team however there will be a notable absentee - captain and talisman Sadio Mane. The forward who's now at Bayern Munich suffered an injury on the very last matchday before the World Cup and has been ruled out of the tournament. Mane is Senegal's all time top scorer with 33. In the recent African Cup of Nations that Senegal won, he had scored 3 and assisted 2. It is obvious that he will be missed. So next we look at the players who will be tasked with replacing him.
The first choice front 3 will now probably be of Ismaila Sarr, Boulaye Dia and Krepin Diatta. Watford's Sarr has 6 goals and 3 assists in the Championship this season while Diatta has a solitary goal in Ligue 1 for Monaco. Dia is at Salernitana in Serie A and has scored 6 goals and assisted a further 2. While the other two are regular starters, Diatta will directly replace Mane. He's quick and likes to beat his fullback before crossing but his end product lacks refinement. The backup will be provided by youngsters like Marseille's Bamba Dieng, Sheffield United's Iliman Ndiaye and Villarreal's Jackson Martinez. Dieng was Senegal's second top scorer in AFCON in January. Ndiaye and Martinez are both having breakthrough seasons, with the former having contributed to 9 goals and 2 assists in the Championship, wowing people with his dribbling and trickery on the wing. Martinez has established himself as a regular in a very good Villarreal side with 4 goal contributions in La Liga so far this season. They also have experienced striker Famara Diedhiou in their ranks, who was among the goals during World Cup qualifying including a hattrick away to Namibia.
While these players as a unit might be able to replicate Mane's goal contributions, they will miss his all round quality and leadership