England midfielder Jordan Henderson admits he spoke to former Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane after he was ruled out of the World Cup with injury.
The 32-year-old sat out the 6-2 win over Iran but was introduced during the second half to help Gareth Southgate’s side secure a goalless draw against the United States on Friday, becoming only the fourth player to appear in six different major international tournaments for England.
By contrast, Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah failed to qualify for the finals in Qatar after Egypt were beaten in a play-off by Senegal, for whom Bayern Munich striker Mane is missing after suffering an injury on the eve of the tournament.
And of the duo’s absence, Henderson said: “I haven’t spoken to Mo to be honest. He’s enjoying his holiday somewhere, I’m sure. He will be very disappointed that his team and he didn’t get to come to the World Cup. The best players in the world want to play in the World Cup and he’s certainly one of them.
“Obviously, for Sadio it was a huge disappointment. I spoke to him when I heard about his injury and he was very disappointed he couldn’t make it. I know what Sadio is like as a person and if there was a small chance he would definitely have given it a go, so it must have been a pretty bad injury. I hope he recovers well and gets another opportunity in the future.”
