“I won’t let him do it,” Kalidou Koulibaly is adamant about Sadio Mane’s potential retirement from international football

For the captain of the Senegal national team, there is no question of Mane leaving the squad.

In an interview with lemediacarre, Kalidou Koulibaly expressed his opposition to the Senegalese striker’s potential retirement from international football, as he had announced during the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. For the captain of the Lions of Teranga, Sadio Mane remains an indispensable pillar both in sporting and symbolic terms. The Al-Nassr striker still has a lot to offer the Senegalese national team, says Koulibaly.

Sadio Mane retiring from international football? That’s not true. I won’t let him do it and I hope he doesn’t. We need him for Senegal’s image and for his talent. He’s capable of giving us a few more years. He’s not a defender, after all. He can still score a few goals for us. Perhaps he spoke in the heat of the moment. Or maybe he was serious. But we’re not going to let him get away with it like that.