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Sadio Mané became the first Senegalese player to win the Premier League in Liverpool ’ s astonishing 2019-20 claim victory, ampere well as becoming the beginning Senegalese player to score in a Champions League final examination the previous year, and the first to score more than 100 premiership goals. Can he become the first Senegal player to lift the CAN trophy ? As Senegal launches their CAN campaign against Zimbabwe on January 10 – hoping to realise their long-running potential, as most excellently displayed in their victory over France in the 2002 World Cup – FRANCE 24 takes a front back at the celebrated career of their captain and star Mané. During his childhood in rural southern Senegal, the 29-year-old Mané promptly developed a passion for football. But his founder, a local anesthetic imam, forbade him from playing. The young Mané ran away to the capital Dakar to try his fortune there – an abortive try that ended with a treaty between him and his mother : that he could play football ampere long as he continued his studies and remained a good Muslim. At the historic period of 15, the budding football player left home again – this time with the family ’ mho consecrate. A endowment scout spotted him playing in a local football tournament in M ’ Bour, 80 kilometres southwest of the capital – and the lookout ensured that Mané took tests in the capital. “ We were organising tests in Dakar and my colleague in M ’ Bour had brought back his four best players ; Sadio Mané was one of them, ” Jules Boucher, then a recruiter for senegalese club Génération Foot, told FRANCE 24. “ I set up two teams for a match and made Mané number 10 ; after fifteen minutes, he was the one who made the biggest impression on me. I stopped the plot. I said to my colleague : If this kid gets effective train, he ’ ll become a great player. ” All the qualities that strike football fans about Mané nowadays were portray back then : notably his ease with complex skills, his lacerating pace and acute legislate. It was Boucher who decided that these gifts would be best optimised by placing Mané on the leave fender of the attack – a side he still plays at Jurgen Klopp ’ mho Liverpool .
From Metz to Liverpool
Génération Foot has played a substantial function in cultivating young senegalese talent over the years. It was set up in 2000 by Mady Touré, who became an agent specialising in young African players after a playing career cut inadequate by injury. Touré ’ s first big achiever was the polish of togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who transferred to Ligue 1 ’ south Metz in 2001 for two years, before he joined Monaco and then captured the attention of football fans worldwide with his spells at Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham. Génération Foot ’ s links to Metz went on to be formative in developing this pipeline of senegalese endowment. After FIFA instituted a rule prohibiting the transfer of minors, Metz decided to “ invest in infrastructure ” and build a “ real coach concentrate to keep players until they reach 18 ”, the club ’ mho president of the united states Bernard Serin told FRANCE 24. indeed, Metz developed a huge complex to serve as a trail academy, including new grounds and even a boarding school. meanwhile Génération Foot was quickly climbing up the ranks of Senegalese football after a humble start in the third class – in big separate thanks to its young talent. The youthful Mané was pivotal during his brief spell there, as Génération Foot won promotion to the second gear division. The club ’ mho rise then continued without him ; it is now playing in Senegal ’ s first division, which it has won twice. Mané instantaneously created an impression upon joining Metz in 2011. “ His potential became clear to us from the moment he arrived ; I remember it perfectly – it was a match against Bastia in January, the way he cut through the defense and got a punishment, ” Serin recalled. “ It was extraordinary for person fair making his depart in european professional football ; all the qualities were there. He only played for us for a twelve matches or so but that was enough to get him called up for Senegal. ” Mané could have made Metz into a powerhouse of french football. But, alas, the cabaret was relegated for the first fourth dimension in their history that class. In a precarious fiscal position, they had to sell some of their best endowment in order to keep adrift. The same year, they besides sold Kalidou Koulibaly, now a celebrated storm as a Napoli centre-back and – along with Mané – the linchpin of the Senegal national team.
“ It is a informant of regret that we had to let them both go so soon ; they could have very made the fans happy for a few years if we ’ vitamin d been able to keep them, ” Serin said. austrian side RB Salzburg signed Mané for €4 million on the death day of the remove window. The winger continued his noteworthy rise there – promptly establishing himself as a potent pull, notching up 45 goals in 87 games, including three hat tricks. Mané finished the 2013-2014 temper as the golf club ’ s top scorekeeper, with 15 goals in all competitions. Mané won the care of football fans across the earth when he joined England ’ s Premier League – the most demanding in the world – signing for Southampton in 2014. The South Coast club had established itself as an increasingly potent force in English football ; a reservoir of endowment to be snapped up by elite clubs for goodly prices. As Mané went from forte to strength in the bright lights of the Premiership – as attested by his 21 goals in 67 appearances for Southampton – he attracted the attention of Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp. Determined to make this storied golf club into England ’ s dominant footballing force once again, Klopp stumped up €36 million for Mané in the 2016 summer transfer window. Soon the medals started coming in, as Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 and the long-coveted Premier League title the subsequent class .
Pride in Senegal
Mané ’ south performances for Senegal didn ’ t slip as Liverpool flourished – as his national team surged to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final examination. Senegal lost to Algeria, but Mané could console himself with 3 goals and an aid in 6 games at CAN – not to mention being crown 2019 African Footballer of the year, ahead of his Liverpool teammate Mo Salah. Yet Mané has not hidden his desire to lift the CAN trophy for Senegal. Mané has always shown pride in his senegalese roots – as demonstrated by his paying for an extension to his former secondary school, his sending 300 Liverpool shirts to his hometown after the Reds lost the 2018 Champions League final examination to Real Madrid, and his regular trips back to visit Génération Foot, where one of the player house buildings bears his name. The partnership between Génération Foot and France ’ s Metz continues to flourish – having recently cultivated talents like Watford ’ s Ismail Sarr and Tottenham ’ second Pape Matar Sarr. Despite the egress of early senegalese talent like Dakar Sacré-Coeur and Diambars ( both partners of Marseille ), Génération Foot remains one step ahead. “ The partnership between Génération Foot and Metz facilitated an improvement in the timbre of Senegalese football, ” Salif Diallo, headway of sports at the senegalese Press Agency, told FRANCE 24. “ Génération Foot is the spinal column of senegalese teams – and that is genuine of the coming genesis arsenic well. ” If Senegal can realise its dream and raise this year ’ s CAN trophy, Génération Foot will be able to claim much of the credit. This article was translated from the original in French.
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