2022 World Cup Qualifiers: Sadio Mane headlines Senegal squad for Salah showdown

Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse has named his squad to face Egypt in the playoff round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Sadio Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gueye, Bouna Sarr, and Cheikhou Kouyate headline the squad named by the reigning African champions.

Injured goalkeepers Seny Dieng and Alfred Gomis, who were backups for Cisse’s side at the Nations Cup, miss out, with Alioune Badara Faty of Casa Sports and Bingourou Kamara of Charleroi named in their places.

Real Betis’ Youssouf Sabaly is included after missing out on the Nations Cup.

The Teranga Lions and the Pharaohs will be meeting for the first leg on March 25 in Cairo before the second leg, which has been scheduled to take place at the Diamniadio Olympic Stadium in Dakar, on March 29.

Record African champions Egypt will surely have revenge on their mind after resuming hostilities with Senegal less than two months after being defeated by them in the Afcon final at the Stade d'Olembe, Yaounde.

Recently, Egypt's head coach, Carlos Queiroz, revealed nine foreign-based players who have been invited to join the predominantly local-based squad for the double-header against Senegal.

Karim Hafez of Yeni Malatyaspor, Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Mostafa Fathy of Al Taawoon, and Mostafa Mohamed of Galatasaray are among the invitees.

Others are Ahmed Hassan Kouka of Konyaspor, Altay’s Ahmed Yasser Rayan, Omar Marmoush of VfB Stuttgart, and Mahmoud Trezeguet of Istanbul Basaksehir FK.

Senegal Squad:

Defenders: Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Alioune Badara Faty (Casa Sports), Bingourou Kamara (Charleroi).

Defenders: Bouna Sarr (Bayern Munich), Saliou Ciss (Nancy), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Pape Abou Cisse (Olympiacos), Abdou Diallo (Paris