Senegal vs Cape Verde. Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16.
Kouekong Stadium.
Match report and highlights as Sadio Mane scores for Senegal; Mane taken off after a clash of heads; Headway critcises the decision to keep Mane on; Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha and Patrick Andrade both sent off; Senegal play their quarter-final on Sunday
Wednesday 26 January 2022 11:48, UK
Sadio Mane suffered a head injury then scored to help send Senegal to the AFCON quarter-finals, but was then substituted and taken to hospital.
Mane fired home from a set-piece after 62 minutes in a 2-0 win over Cape Verde, but had been hurt earlier in a nasty clash of heads with goalkeeper Vozinha, who was sent off for the incident.
Liverpool forward Mane then left the field shortly afterwards complaining of a headache and was taken to hospital.
Later on Tuesday, both Mane and Vozinha were pictured together smiling and giving the thumbs up from hospital.
On Wednesday, brain-injury charity Headway criticised the decision to keep Mane.
Luke Griggs, deputy chief executive of Headway, said: "This was a sickening collision that clearly left both players in enough distress for a concussion to have surely been considered a possibility at the very least. At that point, the principle of 'if in doubt, sit it out!' should have resulted in Mane being substituted without another ball being kicked.
"The image of the player collapsing on the ground and having to be helped from the pitch after scoring his goal should tell you everything you need to know about the impact and the effect it had had on his brain."
Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse said of Mane's condition after the win: "I don't know, but I hope he is ok, he is in hospital now, we will see.
"I have no news from the doctors, I hope there is nothing serious, but in any case I can't give any information on Sadio.
"He had a shock with the goalkeeper, he didn't feel well, his head felt dizzy so he left [the pitch]."
Substitute Bamba Dieng scored Senegal's second goal deep in stoppage time against a gallant Cape Verde side, who also had Patrick Andrade sent off after 20 minutes.
It remains to be seen whether Mane will be able to feature for the Lions of Teranga in the quarter-final on Sunday against either Mali or Equatorial Guinea.
Mane had struck the woodwork in the opening minutes but it proved a false dawn as Senegal laboured through the first half, as they had done in the group phase where they finished top of the standings despite scoring once.
But their task was made easier when Andrade was dismissed for a studs-up challenge on Pape Gueye that continued a spate of similar punishments for dangerous tackles in the tournament.
It left Cape Verde down to 10 men for the final 70 minutes but they were reduced to nine when Vozinha was sent off.
He came out to challenge for a long ball against Mane with the two clashing heads. Vozinha was badly concussed and stumbled around the field for several minutes before being persuaded to go off by his team-mates.
In the interim, the referee was asked to look at the incident by the VAR and determined that Vozinha was reckless in his challenge on Mane, who was left with a swollen cheekbone. It seemed a harsh decision for the islanders, who quickly conceded.
A corner was half-cleared to an unmarked Mane who hit the ball into the net off the underside of the crossbar.
But he then looked uncomfortable almost immediately afterwards and sat down before walking off to be substituted.
Replacement Dieng got his first international goal on the counter-attack in stoppage time as Cape Verde threw caution to the wind in their bid to try and force an unlikely equaliser.
"On the face of it, this seems to be yet another example of football putting results ahead of player safety. This was a sickening collision that clearly left both players in enough distress for a concussion to have surely been considered a possibility at the very least. At that point, the principle of 'if in doubt, sit it out!' should have resulted in Mane being substituted without another ball being kicked.
"The image of the player collapsing on the ground and having to be helped from the pitch after scoring his goal should tell you everything you need to know about the impact and the effect it had had on his brain.
"Yet again, the desire to win is seen as being worth serious risks to players' health. It is simply shocking that this continues to happen.
"This is now a real test of leadership for The Confederation of African Football and world governing body Fifa - particularly if Senegal declare Mane fit for Sunday's quarter-final. If football wants to be taken seriously when it comes to concussion, it simply must take action to enforce and strengthen its protocols."
Saturday January 29
Quarter-final 1: Cameroon vs Gambia, 4pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) - Live on Sky Sports
Quarter-final 2: Burkina Faso vs Tunisia, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua) - Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Sunday January 30
Quarter-final 3: Round-of-16 game 7 winner vs Morocco, 4pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde) - Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Quarter-final 4: Senegal vs Round-of-16 game 8 winner, 7pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) - Live on Sky Sports Football
The Africa Cup of Nations tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in January and February.
The tournament, originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021, will be played in Cameroon between January 9 and February 6, 2022, with Sky Sports showing all 52 games live.
Twenty-four teams will take part, kicking off on January 9 as hosts Cameroon host Burkina Faso in Yaounde, before culminating in the final on February 6 in the capital.
