For Sadio Mane, it all started in Bambali.
It was in south-west Senegal that he began playing football on its red earth-lined streets and sandy pitches and where, aged 13, he watched Liverpool’s famous comeback against AC Milan in the Champions League final in 2005.
Since then he has gone on to lift both that prestigious trophy and the Premier League with the Reds, as well as claiming the Africa Cup of Nations title with the Teranga Lions.
Mane scored the winning penalty against Egypt in the final of the 2021 edition and described it as “the best day of my life and the best trophy of my life”.
A stadium was named after him in the city of Sedhiou, just under four hours from his hometown, following that triumph as a recognition of his achievements.
The forward now has the chance to win a second Afcon title when Senegal face Morocco on Sunday in Rabat (19:00 GMT) – and potentially bow out from the tournament in a blaze of glory.
“We know how to play the final,” Mane said after his second-half strike saw off Egypt in the last four.
“A final is meant to be won. I will be very happy to play my last Afcon final, to enjoy it and to make my country win.”
Midfielder Pape Gueye says the squad aim to convince Mane, who he called “a legend of Senegal”, to change his mind about this being his final Afcon and remain with the team for at least the 2027 edition in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
“We’re going to try to keep him with us a bit longer, because he still has some great years to give,” the 26-year-old Villarreal man told BBC Afrique.
“I heard what he said and we’ll see what he decides to do. But we really want him to stay with us for many more years.”
A humble and charitable man
Mane, now 33 and plying his trade in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr, may have a glittering trophy cabinet but he has never forgotten his roots.
He won hearts with charitable acts in Bambali by pledging money to build a hospital and school, contributing to the construction of mosques and providing funds to aid the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
He also sent 300 Liverpool shirts to his hometown before the Anfield club’s appearance in the 2018 Champions League final, which Real Madrid ultimately won 3-1.
“If Sadio comes here, he behaves very humbly, on a level with the people in Bambali,” Fode Boucar Dahaba, the president of a regional league, told BBC Sport Africa on a visit to the village a few years ago.
“He doesn’t want to stand out. The village gives all this love back to him.”
Family members describe him as someone who is “working for everybody” and a “good Muslim”.
That was evident during his time in England’s top flight, when he helped clean the toilets at a mosque in Toxteth after one Liverpool victory.
“He wanted to remain discreet and wasn’t doing it for publicity,” said Abu Usamah Al-Tahabi, the imam at Al Rahma Mosque.
“He’s not a person looking for fanfare. There’s no arrogance.”
Senegal centre-back Moussa Niakhate hailed Mane as “an incredible man” in the lead-up to the final.
“I won’t have enough time to describe what Sadio represents for African football, and more particularly for the Senegalese people,” he added.
Senegal ‘expect’ contributions from Mane
Mane has over 120 caps and is his country’s record goalscorer with 53 goals.
He has so often been the hero on the pitch in recent years, and he intends to play at the World Cup later this year, where more great memories could be made.
He had an early penalty kick saved during the first half of the 2021 Afcon final but stepped up again to decide the shootout with Egypt in Yaounde.
A little over a month later he settled their 2022 Fifa World Cup play-off against the Pharaohs in the same way – after that match also went the distance – although he ultimately missed out on the tournament in Qatar through injury.
He has mainly been a creative force at this year’s Afcon finals, but his 78th-minute strike against Egypt, who were once again on the receiving end of Mane’s magic, proved enough to send the Teranga Lions through to the final.
“That’s what we expect from him,” midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye told the BBC World Service after his decisive intervention in Tangier on Wednesday.
“[He is] a big player and he needs to show it in big games. He showed it again.”
‘We want to offer him this trophy’
Mane may have a humble demeanour and does not captain Senegal, but when he speaks his team-mates take note.
“In his pre-match speech [before playing Egypt] he motivated all of us,” Pape Gueye said.
“He had the right words to make sure we went into the match fully focused.
“He has the experience of big matches, so he also knows how to calm us down. You can see it a lot in his gestures – he tells us to stay calm, even after we score or if we concede a goal.”
Mane won the vast majority of his international caps under Aliou Cisse, who was in charge of the West Africans from 2015 to 2024, but current coach Pape Thiaw is understandably keen for his talisman to remain part of the national set-up.
“I think he made his decision in the heat of the moment and the country does not agree, and I as coach of the national team do not agree at all,” Thiaw said.
“We would like to keep him for as long as possible.”
The host nation stand in the way of Senegal, but the squad have extra motivation to claim the title for Mane.
“We owe it to him to bring back that second star, which would surely make him one of the greatest players the continent has ever known,” defender Niakhate said.
Pape Gueye added: “He brings so many things to this team.
“Today, all we can do is thank him. And if this really is his last Afcon, we want to offer him this trophy.”
