By Eugene Onyeji
Sadio Mane, a Senegalese professional footballer who also plays as a winger for Premier League club Liverpool is basically leaving a legacy for himself. This great legend was born on April 10, 1992 in Sedhiou, Senegal.
Despite his fame and wealth, Mane clearly hasn’t forgotten his roots. The 27-year-old is well aware of the poverty-stricken conditions in his home village of Bambaly and paid for a hospital to be built there.
Mane also donated £250,000 to fund a new secondary school in his hometown. He also placed each of his family members on a monthly allowance.
He gifted 300 Liverpool shirts to locals in his hometown so they could wear them during the 2018 Champions League final.
Now, he has donated £41,000 to the national committee fighting coronavirus in Senegal. ⠀
This recent donation has gone viral on social media, so much so that someone said on his twitter handle, “This is simple if you are kind you are kind. How many of our celebrities or highly influencers have come out to do a campaign or donate or educate people about the virus… but if you talk to them, they go talk sey Na the government or the people help them make their money?”
Mane is a world class footballer, but more importantly he’s widely regarded as one of the game’s genuine good guys. Mane’s personality has helped him to become a favourite with Liverpool supporters, while even rival fans may find it difficult to dislike him.
Mane displayed his down-to-earth attitude with another selfless act while on international duty with Senegal earlier this season. After getting off the team bus, the winger was seen helping members of staff carry water bottles into the stadium. Most footballers would just walk past without giving it a second thought – as did some members of the squad – but that’s just not in Mane’s nature.
Mane ran away from home and lied to his parents to pursue his football dream at 16-years-old after he was forbidden to drop out of his school. After he arrived in Dakar, Mane advanced through the Senegalese football academy, and the promise he showed there was enough to convince his parents that pursuing football was the right call. Today, he has reached the top of the professional game, but his rise to the summit was not easy. Deservedly too, he is the captain of the Lions of Teranga, the national team of Senegal.
Mane is the current African Footballer of the Year. It was his first time after beating his teammate Mohamed Salah and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez. He becomes the second Senegalese to win the award after another Liverpool player, El Hadji-Diouf, in 2001 and 2002.
This is what he has to say after the award “To be honest I would prefer to be playing football than speaking in front of so many people,” said Mané. “I’m really happy and really proud at the same time. I would like to thank my family, especially my uncle who is here today. It is a big day for me and I would love to thank all the Senegalese people who have been voting for me. I’m from a very small village called Bambali and I’m sure they are all watching me tonight.”
Abu Usamah Al-Tahabi once told the BBC that “Mane comes to the mosque often. At his house he has a Bentley – but he comes to us in a not-so-fancy car, so he is incognito. “He’s not a person looking for fanfare. There’s no arrogance.”
It is not for anything that the pundits regard him as the nicest man in the world and here is what they say “We’ve taken a look back at seven times Mane has disproved the stereotype of a modern footballer.”
For Sadio Mane, it is simply legendary!
