Sadio Mane got up from a horrible clash of heads that left him dazed on the ground, possibly with a concussion, to score a goal and help put Senegal into the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations on Tuesday.
Senegal won 2-0 against Cape Verde, which had two players sent off in the last 16 game in Cameroon’s western city of Bafoussam. The Liverpool star didn’t finish the match and later was taken to the hospital, though he said on social media that he was OK.
Magical
Morocco followed Senegal into the last eight by coming from behind to beat Malawi 2-1. The Moroccan comeback was completed by a magical free kick by Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi, who curled the ball over the wall and into the top corner for the winner in the 70th minute.
In the Senegal-Cape Verde game, Cape Verde’s second red card was dished out to goalkeeper Vozinha when he raced out of his area and tried to head a ball clear with Mane chasing it down.
Bad clash
The players’ heads clashed badly as they leapt in the air and Vozinha clearly sustained a concussion as he tried to get up and ended up staggering around.
Vozinha left on a stretcher and wasn’t around to see the red card referee Lahlou Benbraham held up for him.
But questions will be raised over Mane being allowed to continue after he hit the ground face first following the collision, rolled over and lay still on his back for a moment, clearly dazed.
The results (last-16): Senegal 2 (Mane 63, Dieng 90+2) bt Cape Verde 0; Morocco 2 (En-Nesyri 45+2, Hakimi 70) bt Malawi 1 (Mhango 7).