Senegal will be without its talisman Sadio Mane because of his World Cup injury, therefore the Netherlands will take on Senegal in their Group A opening on Monday afternoon.
Despite improving Holland’s prospects of making the group stage, Sadio Mane’s absence from the World Cup, according to Nathan Ake, is a setback for the tournament.
On Monday, Senegal’s star player Mane will not be competing in the competition when his team faces Holland in Group A’s opening match.
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Mane, a former Liverpool attacker who joined Bayern Munich in the summer, will not be participating in the competition after having surgery on his injured calf on Thursday.
The defender for Manchester City, Ake, asserted that the World Cup was designed for players like the 30-year-old and that Mane’s forced absence would not lead Holland to underestimate Senegal.
The injuries are bad for the World Cup overall, not just for him, according to Ake. “These players belong at the World Cup. Everyone wants to see guys of this caliber in the competition, in my opinion. It is therefore not a good thing.
“Seeing someone get hurt is never pleasant, therefore he will be sorely missed at the tournament. Even though he won’t be there, we’ll still enter the game against Senegal with the same attitude. Nevertheless, we must perform well because it will be a challenging match.
“I still believe that the game will be incredibly challenging. They have a strong strike force and a large number of well-known players. Mane won’t be there, of course, but they still have some excellent players.
“We’re going to analyze them going forward to see how we can play against them. It will therefore be a highly challenging game.
After being eliminated from the World Cup, Sadio Mane will not play in Qatar. He said, “I think people see us as favourites to qualify from our group, but if you see teams like Senegal and the players they have in their team, it’s not going to be easy, especially as they are our first game.
We can assess our progress after that game, but the first game is crucial.
Ake thanked Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, for developing him as a player. He acknowledged that it took him some time to adjust to life with the Premier League champions after a challenging first season.
Ake, a Dutch defender who cost City £40 million to acquire in the summer of 2020 from Bournemouth, said of Guardiola: “He’s been amazing for me personally.
“The first season was hard, but the second and now the third, I feel like I’ve improved in every game, both on the ball and off it, and what he wants me to do strategically,” the player said.