Top 10 Amazing Facts about Football Star Sadio Mané

Sadio Mane. Author Ekaterina Laut. Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Football Star Sadio Mané

Sadio Mane is now a Bayern Munich player and it’s safe to say the Senegal international has come a long way since he ran away from home as a teenager to pursue a career in the sport he loves.

He came to the limelight while playing for Liverpool FC.  At Anfield, he made it a habit to provide assists and scoring goals in almost every game, combining well with Mohamed Salah. His notable achievements at Liverpool include; helping them win the League title and the Champions League.

The Senegalese sensation will be featuring in World Cup 2022 for his country,  Senegal. All eyes will be on this player who narrowly missed the World Footballer of the Year Award this year.

1. His Story Starts From A Very Humble Beginning

Mane was born in in the Sedhiou village of Bambali, Senegal on 10 April 1992, a son of a local Imam. According to the World Bank, 70 percent of families in the area live in poverty but Mane saw football as a way out. “It was tough because I didn’t have anyone behind me to push me to achieve my dream,” he told The Guardian in a 2020 interview. “But I never stopped dreaming.”

The death of his father following a battle with illness had a significant impact in his life. He said, “When I was young my dad was always saying how proud he was of me,” he added. “He was a man with a big heart. When he died, it had a big impact on me and the rest of my family. I said to myself: ‘Now I have to do my best to help my mother.’ That’s a hard thing to deal with when you are so young.”

Read About Top 10 Most Famous Senegalese People

2. He Had To Run Away To Pursue His Career

Sadio Mane. Author Werner100359. Wikimedia Commons

Despite his family not supporting him initially, Mane may have been certain that his dream of becoming a professional footballer would one day become a reality. An early ban on him playing the game led to his first departure from the family home but an agreement with his mother meant he could keep playing as long as he returned home and maintained focus on both his academic and religious studies.

Unable to hold on to life in the village, he escaped again at the age of 15 to the Senegalese capital of Dakar, where his life would soon begin to change. In an interview he admitted, “It was really brave to leave my family in the village and go to Dakar but I knew that I could be successful. After that, my family started to take it more seriously and knew that I didn’t want to do anything else. They knew they had no choice, so they helped me.”

3. He Was Modeled By Generation Foot

Logo Metz FC. Unkown Author. Wikimedia Commons

In Dakar, Mane not only found Generation Foot but also a father figure in Mady Toure, the brainchild of the academy. Mane describes Toure as being “like a dad to me”.

Troure also responded by saying, “Of course I am very proud of Sadio. But he is not my player – he’s my son,” Toure said in 2015. “I’ve known him since he was a kid so to see him doing so well is fantastic. Today we talk about Messi and Neymar but honestly I don’t think these players are as good as Sadio Mane.”

 Generation Foot’s partnership with French side Metz, that sees one player move to the club each year enabled Mane swap his homeland for France in 2011. By January the following year he made his professional debut against Bastia in Ligue 2 and scored his first goal in a 5-2 defeat to Guingamp.

4. He Holds The Record Of The Fastest Hat-Trick in Premier League

The career defining moment of Sadio Mane came on 16 May 2015, when his Southampton faced Aston Villa in which he scored three spectacular goals within the span of 2 minutes and 56 seconds. That records still holds up to today.

5. He Was The Most Expensive African Footballer Of All-Time

Sadio Mane was Southampton’s most expensive signing when he joined the club in 2014. His sterling performances for The Saints attracted attention from Liverpool.

He was eventually signed by Liverpool for £34 million in the summer of 2016. Mane’s transfer fee made him the most expensive African Footballer at the time; surpassing the £28 million Manchester City paid Swansea City to sign Wilfried Bony in 2015.

6. He Is One Of Africa’s Greatest Sporting Products

Internationally, he is regarded as one of Africa’s greatest sporting products. His 50 goals for Senegal make him his country’s record goal scorer, after more than of 90 caps – and counting – place him third on the list for most appearances for the Lions of Teranga.

His legendary status was further boosted with an Africa Cup of Nations Man of the Tournament performance en route to the final in 2019 and going one better in 2022 by striking the winning penalty as Senegal became continental kings for the first time.

He stated, “It’s the best day of my life and the best trophy of my life,” he said after leading his team to the trophy. “I won the Champions League and some [other] trophies but this is the special one for me. This is more important for me.”

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7. His 111 Goals Made Him Liverpool’s Second Highest Active Goal Scorer.

By scoring an astonishing 111 goals he stands behind only Mo Salah in terms of goal scoring prowess among active players. Sadio Mane has scored many crucial goals for Liverpool in the league as well as in the Champions League making him an undisputed regular for REDS.

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8. He Started His Professional Career At Metz

Sadio Mane. Author Steindy (talk). Wikimedia Commons

Coming from humble background, Mane signed his first professional contract with French club Metz in 2011. He later joined Red Bull Salzburg in 2012 where he scored 45 goals in 87 appearances across all competitions. He was wooed to Southampton in 2014. His transfer fee of €23 million made him the club’s most expensive signing at the time.

9. He Has A Big Heart For Charity

With no hospital in the village, Mane’s father was unable to get the medical attention he needed to save his life. In 2021, Mane built the first hospital in Bambali. Two years after he helped build a new school in his hometown. Both projects came at an estimated cost of more than $1 million. He has also donated funds to help fight coronavirus in his home country and to build a mosque in Bambali.

 He also sent 300 Liverpool shirts back to his village when the side reached the 2018 UEFA Champions League final, and flew 50 Senegal fans to Cameroon for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in 2022.

10. He Is Well Decorated

Trophies. Photo by tommao wang on Unsplash

Mane won six trophies with the Anfield outfit, including the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League the following campaign. He was named players’ player and fans’ player of the year in 2017 and was named in the Premier League’s Team of the Season three times in six campaigns as a Liverpool player.

He alsoe finished fourth in the 2019 Ballon d’Or, and has placed fifth and fourth in the Best FIFA Men’s Player rankings in 2019 and 2020.