Shortly before Liverpool’s Premier League match against Leicester City on December 27, 2019, a photo of Sadio Mane’s smashed iPhone 11 surfaced. Mane even contributed to Liverpool’s 4-0 rout of the title contenders, but it was his phone that made headlines. The top half of the iPhone’s screen looked to be cracked.
The world has learnt a valuable lesson in humility from Sadio Mane, the Senegalese star for Liverpool, when some fans saw him getting ready for a Premier League match with a shattered iPhone.
One of the star players for Liverpool is Sadio Mane. Due to his actions and presence, Jurgen Klopp’s team is currently leading the Premier League and has a good chance of ending their 30-year title curse. Mane is one of the best football players in the world and makes over 10.2 million dollars a year. But lately, Mane posted a picture that devastated the hearts of a lot of his followers. Some others saw Mane with a cracked iPhone 11 in the picture. Why Mane isn’t purchasing a new iPhone baffled a lot his followers. He can at least hire a new screenguard, other people joked. But the reason Mane is carrying the damaged iPhone is now known. His remark is currently trending on the internet and has shown a lot of fans how modest and humble the Senegalese forward is.
Mane stated in an October 2019 interview with TeleDakar that helping people was his main objective after becoming to the top of the game.
Why would I want two jet planes, ten Ferraris, and twenty diamond watches? How will the world be affected by that? I didn’t attend school, I toiled in the fields, I played barefoot, and I starved. I can now assist others. I would rather establish schools and provide food and clothing to the underprivileged. I have constructed stadiums for schools and given those living in abject poverty food, clothing, and shoes. In addition, I support the family economies of all the individuals from a very impoverished Senegalese region by giving them 70 euros a month. I don’t have to show off my fancy vehicles, mansions, vacations, or even aeroplanes. Mane stated, “I would rather that my people get a small portion of what life has given me.”
Mane disclosed in the same interview that his close buddy and Dutch football star Gini Wijnaldum gave him the iPhone 11. Mane made the decision to uphold friendship even though he could have easily purchased a new iPhone.
Mane, Africa’s Toast
After winning the premier football trophy in Africa, Mane’s celebration was short-lived on Wednesday when his jet was grounded in Tunisia due to issues with overflight permission. Dakar, the city of Senegal, was ready for the 27-year-old’s celebration after he was named Africa’s 2019 Player of the Year in Egypt on Tuesday. Mane was supposed to land in front of throngs of supporters in Dakar, followed by a parade and a ceremony with the president. He is the first Senegalese player to win the title since 2002.
But the festivities were called off on Wednesday after a delay in receiving overflight permission from Tunisian authorities, said Bakary Cisse, an official in Mane’s entourage. With 19 wins and 1 draw so far this season, Liverpool has not lost. According to a source close to Senegalese political circles, the visit has been postponed by several days rather than cancelled.
Praise for Mane flooded in across Senegal on Tuesday, while images of celebrations in his native village of Bambali, in the south of the country, circulated on social media. Senegalese President Macky Sall tweeted that Mane’s win was a “marvellous feat” that deserved being heralded as an example for young people. The player has had a successful year both with Liverpool — with whom he won the Champions League and the Club World Cup — and with the Senegal squad.