Virgil van Dijk expects former Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane to overlook the World Cup after the damage he suffered on the eve of the event.
- Mane injured leg enjoying for Bayern
- Senegal face Van Dijk’s Netherlands in Group A
- Dutchman assured his aspect can flourish in Qatar
WHAT HAPPENED? Mane has been named within the Senegal squad regardless of struggling what Bayern Munich, his membership, described as an damage “to the top of his proper fibula” within the win over Werder Bremen final week. The 30-year-old was not with Aliou Cisse’s squad after they touched down in Qatar on Monday however, because the workforce’s talisman and report goalscorer, he shall be given each likelihood of proving his health. He actually won’t function within the Group A opener with Van Dijk’s Netherlands aspect on November 21.
WHAT THEY SAID: Chatting with reporters, Netherlands captain Van Dijk mentioned: “It’s going to be robust if he performs, sure or not. I don’t assume he’ll play, however they’ve a unbelievable workforce.”
Requested if he has spoken to his former Liverpool colleague, Van Dijk added: “After all. I used to be feeling unhappy for him, in the beginning. I’m not joyful on this case and I’ve been in that state of affairs the place I missed the Euros [in 2021]. We as gamers, we work so exhausting to get to this stage and he has been such an necessary determine in that group, for his or her nation. I do know for a proven fact that he’ll put a courageous face on it, however it’s robust and I really feel sorry for him. I simply need to inform him that whether or not he performs, sure or no, it’s going to be such a tricky recreation.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Van Dijk’s gloomy outlook is seemingly shared by the Senegalese Soccer Federation. On Tuesday, board member Abdoulaye Sow revealed that the Bayern Munich man would miss his nation’s “first video games” in Qatar.
AND WHAT’S MORE: The Netherlands had been on account of arrive in Doha on Tuesday, with Van Dijk excited for his first main event at senior stage. “I am actually enthusiastic about enjoying in opposition to the most effective gamers in world soccer, main out my nation over there, representing my nation in one of the best ways potential and for me it’s a boyhood dream,” he mentioned. “I am 31 now however it does not change the truth that I’ll take pleasure in this as a lot and possibly it’s a fair higher time for me to go there due to every thing that I’ve skilled. And likewise now we have an incredible group so I’m very enthusiastic about it.”
IN THREE PHOTOS:
Getty PhotosGetty
Getty
WHAT NEXT FOR MANE & VAN DIJK? The precedence for Mane shall be attempting to get himself match for no less than a part of the World Cup. It does, nonetheless, appear unattainable that he’ll function within the Group A opener, a recreation that can see Van Dijk lead the Dutch out in his first look at a World Cup.