It was an incredible journey with some really, really tough moments.
He’s faced heartbreaking moments, on and off the pitch.
To become a football player, I did a lot of sacrifice in my life.
Sadio Mane has kept his feet on the ground,
never forgetting his roots despite his hard-won success.
My story starts in Bambali.
Of course, it´s where everything began.
I was born there. I grew up there.
And of course, Bambali means a lot for me from the bottom of my heart.
I’m even emotional when I’m talking about my village,
because for me, it’s everything.
Bambali was home to Sadio’s large family, where they lived in humble conditions.
From early on, he was eager to lend a helping hand.
When I was little, I was playing in the streets, like all the boys.
But things took a serious, and tragic turn when Sadio was just 7.
His father and head of the family, who was an Imam in a neighboring city, died.
Yeah, it was not easy to be honest,
because a father is ...
everybody knows how it is to lose a member of your family.
Dad or mum, it's always hard.
And it was a tough time for me,
Of course I had my mum and of course my uncle who support me in this moment
because they know, it was very difficult for me.
But like I always say, life goes one and we all accept what happened.
Life went on, but it wasn’t easy.
Sadio dreamed of better times.
He hoped to get there with his budding talents
and didn’t have much time for the classroom.
It came some point, where I skipped school.
I didn't go to school because I wanted to become a football player.
Most in Bambali end up farming.
But Sadio’s mother had something else in mind.
She hoped he would be a judge or lawyer.
But even as a kid, Sadio looked up to a different kind of professional.
That dream meant saying goodbye to the home that meant so much to him.
Though his mom and uncle were against him pursuing a football career,
Sadio wasn’t to be stopped.
At 15 he snuck off to the capital, Dakar, for a trial at the Académie Génération Foot.
Sadio’s family searched far and wide,
and eventually found out where he was from his best friend.
Unsurprisingly, they weren’t exactly pleased.
But the academy wanted to sign him at all costs,
and eventually Sadio’s mom and uncle agreed to let him join after finishing his school exams.
Sadio’s gamble paid off and he joined a branch of the academy in M’Bour, outside of Dakar,
to test himself against the country’s best footballing prospects.
Sadio was already demonstrating the mentality that would lead to then unthinkable success.
He’d won his family’s support, and soon the whole academy was by his side.
Sadio was quick on the pitch, but more importantly, he was a quick learner!
Despite his skills, Sadio remained levelheaded.
He helped the squad earn promotion to the second tier.
French side FC Metz regularly sent scouts to the academy.
Most players dreamed of making the jump from there to Europe,
and in 2011 Sadio lined up a trial in France.
While other prospects languish in the Metz academy for years,
Sadio immediately made the first team.
But this also came with its own hurdles to jump.
Sadio notched 19 appearances and scored a goal in his first season in Ligue 2,
but Metz were relegated.
Still, this was enough to get the attention of RB Salzburg,
who signed him in the summer of 2012.
Sadio blossomed under coach Roger Schmidt,
scoring 29 goals in 2 years and winning the Austrian Bundesliga twice.
Sadio’s explosive speed, technical skills, and versatility put him on the map in Salzburg.
But he made no secret that his dream was to play in a bigger league.
In 2014 Sadio instigated a transfer, skipping training and team events.
These antics are common among footballer’s trying to push for a move,
but stick out as the only time Sadio’s strayed from full professionalism.
He wanted to take the next step no matter what.
And Southampton made it possible with a 15 million Euro deal.
Sadio excelled in the Premier League, firing home 21 goals in two seasons.
That included scoring a hattrick in 2 minutes and 56 seconds, the quickest in League history.
Many of Sadio’s goals came against big teams – like Liverpool.
Jürgen Klopp already had his eyes on Sadio at Dortmund, now he wanted him in England.
I still remember when I got a call from him, to join him in Liverpool.
I was lucky to be his player and be coached by him.
In 2016, a 36 million Euro transfer saw Klopp land his star.
We all know how the story goes from here.
By 2018 Sadio helped Liverpool reach the Champions League final –
where they were bested by Real Madrid.
Just a year later, he lifted Europe’s biggest trophy after Liverpool defeated Spurs.
That same season, Sadio was the Premier League’s top scorer,
even if Manchester City won the title by a point.
No problem – Sadio fired Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years the next season anyway.
Sadio Mané has won just about every title imaginable,
but he’s stayed down to earth.
Despite earning plenty of cash, Sadio rarely indulges in luxury.
He’s more likely to be seen with a banged up phone than a sports car
and gives a lot back to his roots.
Sure, plenty of rich athletes support important causes,
but unlike most others, Sadio doesn’t try to make publicity out of it.
Sadio’s an absolute superstar back home, and not just because of his philanthropy.
He’s an important part of the Senegal national team,
though that, too, hasn’t always been easy.
In 2017, Senegal lost to Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals,
with Sadio missing the decisive penalty in the shootout.
The setbacks continued: Senegal were bounced from their 2018 World cup group on a tiebreaker,
and were narrowly defeated in the 2019 AFCON final by Algeria.
In 2022 captain Sadio led Senegal to another AFCON final.
He had to take the decisive penalty in a shootout against Egypt.
This time he scored, winning Senegal their first ever African Cup of Nations.
Sadio was awarded African player of the year in 2019 and 2022.
But for him, it’s still all about the team.
And yet, at the height of his career, Sadio was looking for change.
With Robert Lewandowski leaving Munich that same offseason,
Sadio was an important signing for both Bayern and the Bundesliga.
He wants to build on his Premier League success.
Sadio has plenty of experience adjusting to new cultures
and was quickly rounding into form,
until a shock, just before the 2022 World Cup.
He missed the tournament due to injury.
But as with all the hurdles he’s faced, Sadio never lost sight of what really counts.
I always said, I think we have more important in life than football.
So for me, first comes my family, of course, and my people.
So as long as I can do something for them, I will never hesitate.
Of course I think, as in your question,
if you were born and grew up and know the reality of these people
for sure you will not hesitate to do your best for them.
So it's what I'm trying to do for them.