Liverpool striker Sadio Mane believes Fifa was right to order a replay between South Africa and Senegal in the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
Mane is of the view that the Teranga Lions unfairly lost the said match, saying the two goals that Bafana Bafana scored on the day were questionable.
Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was found guilty of manipulating the result, and following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to uphold his lifetime ban, the 2-1 result was chalked off with immediate effect.
“Honestly, I am happy (about the replay) because it was not an easy game for us and it was not an easy situation,” Mane told ESPN.
“Everybody who watched the game knows that it was not a normal thing to deal with. It was a very strange decision, but we are football players. So, we accepted it because we couldn’t change anything,” he said.
“The two goals were very… well, you couldn’t understand them. So, it is good for us that FIFA has made the decision, and we will take this game seriously and try to win,” Mane explained.
The 25-year-old frontman sees this as a chance for Senegal to make amends, but he warned that they still have to work hard to win the rematch.
“This gives us a second chance, but it doesn’t mean that we have won the game already. South Africa is a very good team and we respect them a lot,” concluded the Liverpool star.
As things stand, Bafana has a single point to their name, while Senegal are four points ahead and two behind joint Group D leaders Burkina Faso and Cape Verde Islands.
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