Sadio Mane’s humble clay house in his hometown doesn’t even appear on the map.

Sadio Mane’s humble clay house in his hometown doesn’t even appear on the map.

The village of Bambali was born and brought up in: Located deep inside Senegal, Bambali is 400 kilometers away from the capital of the country, Dakar. The population of the village is only about 2000 people. Old houses, wooden fences, and plenty of mango trees surround the village. The village is located on the coast of the Casamance River, and therefore the primary occupation of the locals involves fishing and farming.

French is the first language for all villagers – it is also Senegal’s first language. Mane has built a school in Bambali. Sadio Mane has built a school, a big hospital, and a mosque in Bambali. Mane wanted to give his hometown hope with the hospital as his father passed away when he was just 11 due to insufficient availability of medical facilities.

Senegal has a population of over 15 million, with more than 95% of the people followers of Islam. Mane’s house has a well inside it from which villagers are free to draw water. ‘Sadio Mane: The Child of Bambali’ the poster reads outside his home.

It’s common in Senegal for joint families to all live together with one another – the mansion Mane has built has 40 family members living under one roof. Mane’s relatives are ready to watch an AFCON game between Senegal and Tanzania in 2018. Sadio misses the game but everyone is still excited.

A lot of the villagers are Reds fans now – especially after the winger gifted 300 Liverpool shirts to people in the village before the Champions League final in 2018. Everybody knows Mane here. Everybody sees him as their brother and a role model.