Apparently no one believed in little Sadio Mané (30) - except for Sadio Mané himself. Growing up in a little town called Bambali in southern Senegal, the boy's life was at best as a farmer. But Mané had other plans. With tattered shoes, the boy is said to have made his way to the capital Dakar on his own at the age of 15 in order to prove his talent there.
His bad shoes were even a topic at a prestigious football academy. But even in these Mané managed to lay the foundation for a golden future: From FC Metz in France he went to RB Salzburg, then to the Premier League to FC Southampton and in 2016 to Jürgen Klopp (55) in Liverpool.
Now he is with FC Bayern - and should have brought about 17 million new fans to the club. "My country consists of 17 million football-crazy people and they are all Bayern fans now," said Mané in an interview with the members' magazine "51". "I think you will see a lot of Senegal flags at the Allianz Arena this season."
Goals and titles line his path, but apparently they haven't gone to his head. In 2019 he was named Africa's Footballer of the Year for the first time. As he posed for the photographers with the trophy in a pompous throne, one called out to him: "The King!" Mané fell out of character for a moment, raised his index finger and seriously stated: "No, no, no, no king!" In 2022 he was again named Africa's Footballer of the Year.
The hype about his person still seems scary to Mané, as he suggests in an interview with "51": "People say that about me, but I don't see myself as a world star at all. I can't do much with such terms. It's just me It's about being part of the team. I'll do anything for that."
Mané knows a lot about what to do with the wealth he has gained. He doesn't follow the flashy lifestyles of other world-class players. "What do I want ten Ferraris, 20 watches with diamonds and two planes for? How would that help the world?" "11 Friends" quoted him last year as saying in an interview with "TeleDakar". And further: "I starved, worked in the fields, I played barefoot, I want to help the local people."
And he does. Mané invests in education and the medical infrastructure in his home country, finances schools and the construction of a hospital. The latter could also be related to a personal experience from his life: When Mané was seven years old, his father died because the nearest hospital was too far away. The devout Muslim also enabled the construction of a mosque, a post office and a gas station.
And his commitment doesn't stop at his free time. During his last visit to Bambali, for example, he played for a good cause in a charity game on the village square. It is "important for him to give something back", the FCB quotes him as saying. "I'm really proud of what I do for the people there. I know the reality of their lives. Making them smile is important to me."
Not a world star, not a king, but a team player and also a "good guy" off the pitch. And an athlete who is open to all cultures, as the new Bayern player is showing once again. On the Bayern Twitter account, he greeted the supporters of his new club in Bavarian with the words: "Servus, it's me, da Sadio." And he's also really looking forward to the Oktoberfest: "I even have a pair of lederhosen at home from my time in Salzburg. I kept them because I've always liked wearing them and I'm generally very interested in other cultures."
