20-year old former Barcelona Academy player Moussa Ndiaye, currently plying his trade with RSC Anderlecht, was called up by coach Aliou Cisse in replacement of the injured Sadio Mane, on Sunday, November 20,2022 in view of the Qatar 2022 WC.
Sadio Mane has been ruled out for the entirety of the World Cup after news he will require surgery on a knee injury he sustained playing for Bayern Munich.
The former Liverpool player came off just 20 minutes into Bayern’s 6-1 win against Werder Bremen at the start of the month complaining of pain around his right fibula and casting his role in Senegal’s campaign into doubt.
Ndiaye spent two seasons at La Masia in Barcelona’s reserve teams before signing for Anderlecht. This summer, he moved to the Belgian side and he was promoted to the first team after playing three clashes for the second team. He has played in ten competitive matches and he has provided one assist this season.
Ndiaye was not Cisse’s first choice. The coachg was opting for Monaco defender Ismael Jakobs. However, several problems hampered the player’s call-up and the Senegalese coach opted to call up the young Anderlecht player.
The Teranga lions will begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on Monday, November 21,2022 before playing host Qatar and ending their Group A against Ecuador.
By Brian Mboh