Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has been ruled out of Senegal’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification double-header against Sudan due to a muscle injury.
The 27-year-old has been a regular fixture in Aliou Cisse’s team having featured in every of their games so far in 2018.
Koulibaly teamed up with his compatriots earlier this week with 'a small lesion' after playing for the full 90 minutes in his club’s 2-0 defeat of Sassuolo in Sunday’s Serie A encounter.
After undergoing tests to evaluate the extent of the injury, the Teranga Lions’ medical chief Pape Fedhior confirmed that the defender has been released to continue treatment at his base in Napoli.
“Koulibaly arrived already carrying an injury after Sunday’s Serie A game,” Fedhior was quoted as saying by Football Italia.
“He had tests to evaluate the extent of the injury and found a small lesion between the small and large adductor.
“Seeing as the pain was not going away, he returned to Naples to continue his treatment.”
Koulibaly joins Lamine Gassama [groin injury], Salif Sane in the injury list of the west Africans who sit atop Group A with four points from two matches.
Senegal have managed just a win [vs. Equatorial Guinea] in their qualification campaign for next year’s continental showpiece and will hope to bounce back from their disappointing 2-2 draw against Madagascar when they host Sudan on Saturday.
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