Sports

Man Crush Monday: Sadio Mané, Africa’s Male Player of the Year

Senegalese football player Sadio Mané competes for both the Senegal national team and Bundesliga club Bayern Munich as a striker.

Sadio Mané Professional Career

Mané started his professional career at the age of 19 with Ligue 2 side Metz, but left after just one season to join the Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg in 2012 for a sum of €4 million. In the 2013–14 season, Red Bull Salzburg won the domestic league and cup double.

Later same summer, Mané moved to Southampton of England for a then-club-record cost of £11.8 million. In a 6-1 victory over Aston Villa in 2015, he there established a new Premier League record for the quickest hat-trick, scoring all three goals in 176 seconds.

Also Read: Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s First Black President, Was born on This Day in 1918

Sadio Mané Signed Fellow Premier League Club Liverpool

Mané signed for fellow Premier League club Liverpool in 2016, for a reported fee of £34 million. He helped the side reach back-to-back UEFA Champions League Finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter. He also finished as the league’s joint-top goalscorer in the 2018–19 season, winning the Premier League Golden Boot. Mané then helped end Liverpool’s 30 year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League.

In October 2021, he scored his 100th Premier League goal, becoming the third African to reach the landmark. Mané finished fourth for the 2019 Ballon d’Or, and in the Best FIFA Men’s Player he ranked fifth in 2019 and fourth in 2020.

Also Read: Man Crush Monday: Senegalese Singer, Songwriter – Akon

International Achievements of Sadio Mané

At international level, Mané has registered 33 goals in 91 appearances for Senegal since his debut in 2012, and currently ranks as his nation’s all-time top goalscorer, and third in all-time appearances. He represented Senegal at the 2012 Olympics, as well as the 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations.

In the 2019 tournament, Mané helped Senegal to a runners-up finish, and a year later, was named African Footballer of the Year. In the 2021 final, Mané scored the winning kick in the penalty shoot-out to give Senegal their first Africa Cup of Nations title and he was also named the Player of the tournament. Mané also represented his nation at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in their second ever appearance in the competition.

He is the African player of the year award for the male category.

Chinaza Ogbachalu

My name is Chinaza Ogbachalu, and I am a writer. I have been writing news and opinion articles for five years plus and have always had a passion for storytelling. I grew up in Nigeria and graduated from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, with a degree in linguistics and communication studies. I have written books that have been well-received by critics and readers alike. My work often focuses on culture and lifestyle, and I draw inspiration from my own experiences and observations of the world around me. As a news writer, I am responsible for researching and writing engaging and accurate news stories for our online audience. I have a strong passion for current events and am skilled at conducting interviews and gathering information from sources. I am grateful for the support of my readers and am constantly humbled by their enthusiasm for my work. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and my writing.