You only need to watch ‘MADE IN SENEGAL,’ a documentary profiling Senegal and Liverpool’s star player, Sadio Mane, to understand his deep commitment to his country and his people. The over 112 minutes documentary began from the sandy ground of Bambali village-far south of Senegal and ends in the lush pitches of Europe to chronicle a journey through the life of the Senegalese. He says in the documentary: “I honestly don’t know what makes me exceptional. People found me abnormal (as a child) when I told my mother I wanted to play football, she thought I was crazy. To her, it’s just a child dreaming. You have to dream in life. My dream is to write history and win all the trophies.”
Even for the fast striker, that is a big dream, but he has not done badly achieving it-the latest being the Africa Nations Cup (AFCON) trophy that has eluded Senegal for decades.
Mane’s credentials far outweigh the 2021 AFCON victory or the heroic performances throughout the tournament to ensure that Senegal break the age-long jinx to win their first AFCON in Cameroon or the UEFA Champions League laurel or EPL titles.
He considers his love and commitment to Africa, Senegal and his people as his biggest accomplishment.
FORMATIVE YEARS
Mané grew up in Bambali, a Senegalese village 250 miles away from the country’s capital Dakar. When he was 15, he ran away from home to become a professional footballer – but didn’t forget his roots.
Mane is completely sold out to his people according to the video piece.
Though, Mane lost his father at a tender age, he considers himself made by the village-Bambali, in which he was born and where he spent his formative years.
Since he has a lot of money to build palatial mansion in the city, no one would have hang him for leaving the rural community, but not Mane.
“Mané spends the majority of his free summers back home, in the small town of Bambali, Senegal, where he grew up. He certainly has the money and status to jet around the world, but the Liverpool star’s roots are much more important to him than a vacation. His standing as one of the best players in the world has afforded him the means to build a school and hospital for his people,” quips the documentary’s narrator.
Mané strongly believes the relationship is symbiotic and would probably argue that he gets more out of it than any of Bambali’s residents.
He said: “Today, football players are role models on and off the pitch,” he says. “After every single season, I’m back home, where it all began. I’ve always said it’s really important to give back and I try my best to give back what my people have given me.”
‘Made in Senegal’ captures Mané talking profoundly how his community gave him the support he needed to succeed in professional football, how his family and friends helped him get to where he is today, and how he has only begun to repay their faith in him.
Mané can be seen speaking to his people from the second floor of a hospital he was building for Bambali.
Mané implores his compatriots to make use of the town’s new infrastructure, which includes a school and soon-to-be-developed petrol station.
“I am from there and I know what they need and what would be of benefit to them, as I went through the same things many of them are going through before I became a professional footballer,” he explains.
SCHOOL PROJECT
He said of the school project, the first of the many in frastructures he would built for Bambali.
“Why not start by building a school to give opportunities to those young kids who dream to become someone else in the future?” Mané asks. “The hospital is also an opportunity for people who have maybe never been to the hospital to get better treatment than before.”
HOSPITAL PROJECT
Mané also built a hospital in his village.
His father died when he was a child, and the lack of health services in his home region has become a big cause in the footballer’s life.
“I remember my sister was also born at home because there is no hospital in our village. It was a really, really sad situation for everyone. I wanted to build one to give people hope.”
The hospital, which includes a maternity care department, was inaugurated by the footballer in June 2021 before the hospital which he built at the cost of €530,000 to the Senegalese government.
That is not all, he further delivered a modern petrol station in Bambali to lessen their burden to trekking multiple kilometres for fuel.
PETROL STATION
“You have to run 10 to 20 kilometers to get petrol. There are 10,000 people in the village and they need the gas to cook, as well. I’m doing my best to make sure my projects solve real problems and make a real difference.
“There are many things that can make a difference; for example, just being there with them. I always try to be there, give my advice, and just spend some quality time with them. I see in their faces how happy it makes them and how they appreciate it.”
His great love for Africa is also summarises in his reaction to winning AFCON. Mane’s accomplishment on field with one of the most successful clubs in the world-Liverpool includes the Premier League and Champions League titles, but the AFCON MVP insists AFCON glory is more important.
He said he has longed to win AFCON because his people badly wanted it.
Over his career, he has been named in the CAF Team of the Year four times, the PFA Team of the Year three times, the African Footballer of the Year once, won the Premier League Golden Boot and been shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or, but they don’t compare to winning AFCON.
Such is his dedication to fatherland that he had to pick himself up after suffering a concussion in one of their matches’en-route to winning the trophy.
“It’s the best day of my life and the best trophy of my life,” Mane told BBC Sport after the game.
“I won the Champions League and some [other] trophies but this is the special one for me. This is more important for me.
“I am happy for myself, my people and all of my family.”
Mane helped Senegal reach the final in 2019 only to suffer a 1-0 defeat to Algeria, producing a flat display after a long campaign with Liverpool that ended with triumph in the Champions League.
Before that final, Mane professed that he would trade his Champions League winner’s medal for the AFCON equivalent, but now he has both – a player whose world-class ability is proven with both club and country.
VILLAIN TO HERO
The Liverpool star spurned a golden opportunity to give his national team the lead with an early penalty that was saved by Egypt goalkeeper Gabaski.
But Mane redeemed himself by converting the winning spot-kick in the shoot-out as Senegal were crowned champions of Africa for the first time.
As well as getting his hands on the main trophy, Mane was also named the tournament’s best player after the match.
The 29-year-old scored three goals during the tournament. Only Cameroon duo Vincent Aboubakar (eight goals) and Karl TokoEkambi (five) netted more.
Asked how he felt after missing the early penalty, Mane continued: “I was unhappy, but the big difference today was my teammates. After missing the penalty, everybody came to me in the dressing room and said: ‘Sadio, we don’t care what happened – we lose together, we win together. We push again and we’re going to need you’.
“When I was going to take the second penalty, they all came to me and said: ‘We trust you, go and do it’.
“I think that made the difference. That was Senegal’s strength today. It gave me more motivation to shoot and score and I did it for all of the people.”
Mane also reserved special praise for Senegal head coach AliouCisse.
“I think is the first trophy in the history of Senegal,” he added. “The people cry about it because they’ve been waiting so long.
“But still, this trophy I give to AliouCisse, he deserves it. This man, for me, he is something else.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Senegal, Mane also donated £41,000 to the Senegal government in 2000.
His agent said he had done it “spontaneously when he saw the evolution of the situation”.
Then, he sent a 30M FCFA (around €45 000) to health authorities in Senegal.
Then during one of his visits home, he gifted 300 Liverpool shirts to people in his home village they could wear them during the 2018 Champions League final.
Liverpool lost to Real Madrid, but those with the shirts had cause to celebrate the following year, when Liverpool lifted the trophy.
Mane, 29, says he’s still hungry for success. “I want to win it all. The World cup is there, one day Africa will win it. Maybe, it will be Senegal. we have great players and our people are behind us.”