By Matthew Polyak
Inspirational stories surround us all. One of them has to be about the magnificent soccer player Sadio Mané. His contributions not only to soccer but to improving the lives of others and rising from poverty are why I would like to dive into the story of one of my favorite players to have ever played for Liverpool.
Sadio Mané was born on April 10th, 1992 in Sedhiou, Senegal. He grew up in Bamabali, a village in the southern regieon of Bambali, which has a population of about 25,000 people. Since his village was so isolated, he and his family were very poor. His parents gave birth to many children and were barely making ends meet. So, he was sent to live with his uncle.
He was unable to attend school and mainly focused on religion, until his father passed away when he was 7. Afterwards, his main attention turned to soccer. An inspiration of his was seeing Senegal make the quarter-final of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Sadio was extremely lucky, as he was spotted by some French scouts who had been sent to poor regions in Senegal to see if they could spot any gems who could grow into superstars.
He was the poorest but most talented in Dakar, a city where his uncle sent him to pursue soccer. He was signed for French team Metz at the age of 15, which was famous for growing and developing many African talents. After receiving a call-up to the Senegalese National Team, he was transferred to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, where he put in very good performances.
Following his stint at RB Salzburg and a very good performance at the 2012 London Olympics for Senegal, he finally had his dream come true, and was transferred to English Premier League side, Southampton. However, after he missed the deciding penalty for Senegal against arch-rivals Cameroon, his main home in Dakar was trashed and his relatives had to flee. They would finally be safe after policemen offered 24-hour protection for his family.
He found it difficult to balance out mental issues but got through them because of his great performances on the pitch, which eventually earned him a transfer in 2016 to European sleeping giants Liverpool FC. The Reds were slowly building back their pedigree after a long stint in mediocrity. That season, Sadio Mané was the star, as he scored goals for fun and helped Liverpool secure Champions League qualification for the first time in 3 years 2 seasons later.
He has won everything possible at Liverpool and has even won the African Cup of Nations for Senegal. He is known for being one of the most humble people in football. He never brags or boasts. He isn’t consumed by social media and does not live a celebrity life.
More importantly, he has used his money for doing good. He has been donating large amounts of his earnings to his local village. The money has been used to build schools, houses, and soccer facilities. He has even visited multiple times to play with the local children.
Everyone in his village calls him a hometown hero. His story is one of the most inspiring I have ever read, and as a Liverpool fan, I was sad to hear he was leaving for Bayern Munich in Germany. Unfortunately for Sadio, leaving Liverpool would be the ultimate downfall of his career.
He would fall out of favor in the Bayern Munich team and just one season later would transfer to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. He has been doing okay so far for Al-Nassr but it is clear his career is on the closer end of being over. However, he no doubt has been a large role model to people of color and also poor people. He shows that anyone can make it, as long as you try hard enough.
Scribemen Magazine 