Senegal officials are afraid El Hadji Diouf may have carried out his threat to boycott the surprise team of the World Cup.
Diouf helped inspire the Senegalese to mark their finals debut by reaching the quarter-finals before their golden goal defeat by Turkey.
When he joined Liverpool at the start of the season, however, he hinted that he might quit the national squad over the federation’s failure to retain World Cup coach Bruno Metsu.
Senegal’s national team squad are currently preparing in Marseille for this weekend’s match against Lesotho under new boss Abdoulaye Sarr – but the African Footballer of the Year has yet to answer the call.
Sarr said: “We don’t know where he is – maybe he is just travelling late. If he doesn’t come to play then we will miss him – but a team are more that just one player.”
Abdoulaye Diagne Faye of Lens and Souleymane Camara of Monaco have been called up to replace Diouf and Liverpool team-mate Salif Diao.
By Keir Radnedge
