Mane hailed as ‘one of the best’ in the world

Daniel Storey

Senegal manager Aliou Cisse believes his side possess one of the best players in the world in Sadio Mane.

Senegal face arguably the greatest pure striker in world football in their first game, Robert Lewandowski, but Cisse is not daunted.

He believes that Senegal’s star player can match any other in the tournament, even Messi and Ronaldo.

“I don’t want to say he could become one of the best players in the world – he is already one of the best, you have to stress this,” Cisse said.

“He plays for an iconic club in Liverpool, which is one of the best clubs in Europe. He has shown he is top-notch with his club and he has something unique.

“He’s unpredictable, at any point he can make the difference with a dribble and pass, so for me he is already one of the best players.

“Sadio is a unique player and he can’t be compared to any other Senegal players, even if we’ve had some major ones in the past.

“He’s unique and despite everything that has occurred to him in the last two or three years, he hasn’t changed. He’s just as humble as the first time I met him, six years ago at the Olympics.

“His mentality hasn’t changed, his behaviour to staff and his humility to [his] teammates is the same, so he’s a player who can bring a lot to the team.”