Dusty roads and dilapidated houses are still common images coming out of Bambali. In that dust, a boy named Sadio Mane He fell in love with football, a game that would make him famous, but also to which he would give a lot, above all things that are slowly dying out in modern sports.
Bambali is still far from an ideal place to live, but thanks to Mane, it now has a hospital, a school... The man who is a legend of the great Liverpool and a symbol of Senegal and African football has never forgotten the place he came from, nor how difficult it is for children in his hometown to live today.
A giant off the field, but still classy on it, Mane directed another lesson in sport, and life, on the big stage. During the madness that erupted deep into stoppage time in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, he was the only one in his team to put sportsmanship above the pain that could ensue if his Senegal team were knocked out from a penalty kick in the 100th minute.
Judge Jean-Jacques Endala First, he disallowed a goal against Senegal in the 92nd minute, and then, with VAR assistance, awarded a penalty for hosts Morocco six minutes later. The visiting coach Pape Tiao and most of his guys, feeling that something had been stolen from them, decided to leave the field.
Not Mane. He was thinking in terms of sports, but he was probably also thinking about all the penalties and sanctions that would await his national team, he ran to the locker room and brought all his teammates and coaching staff back for the final match.
Everything after that is history - Edouard Mandy caught the desperate "Panjenka" Braima Dijasa, Pope Gay in the fourth minute of extra time, he tore through Morocco's net and sewed the second star for the best in Africa above the Senegalese crest.
- I have to apologize to the football world, because our exit from the field was not a sporting move. When I thought about it, I knew we were wrong and I asked my teammates to come back. We have to accept that mistakes are part of life, the referee made a mistake just like we do when we play. Football is something special, the world watched this match and we had to send a nice picture - Mane explained.
53
Mane scored for Senegal and is the two-time African champion's top scorer in history
The story with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations could thus be over, at least Mane announced it. Four years ago he scored the decisive penalty against Egypt in the final, now he has saved the final in Rabat, but also his Senegal. The biggest stage is ahead and the World Cup in the summer - a place where Mane and the other great "Lions of Teranga" will want to turn another page of history.
His goals made Senegal great, put Liverpool back where they belonged, and he will be remembered as the scorer of the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history from his days at Southampton. On the other hand, his human qualities are perhaps best captured by the following words.
"Why would I dream of ten Ferraris, 20 diamond watches or a few planes? We have built schools, a stadium, we provide clothes, shoes and food for people who are in extreme poverty. I don't need to show luxury, I prefer that my people have at least a little of what life has given me," Mane said.
Bonus video:
