From successful cancer treatment to Africa Cup final
ONE YEAR after returning from cancer treatment, Sébastien Haller could lead Ivory Coast to the Africa Cup of Nations title.
Haller fired the host nation into Sunday’s final against three-time champion Nigeria with the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Congo in the semifinals.
“It’s kind of a great moment today to be here in front of you speaking about the final, about the Africa Cup in your own country,” Haller said yesterday. “I’m just enjoying it. I hope that tomorrow I will enjoy as well. But I think I will take a few months or a few years to really realise what’s happened in the last years.”
The game against Congo was Haller’s first start of the tournament, after two substitute appearances, while he worked his way back from an ankle injury that prevented his involvement in the group stage.
It’s not his first comeback, however, and certainly not his most important.
Haller missed six months of football from mid2022 after being diagnosed with testicular cancer shortly after joining Borussia Dortmund from Ajax Amsterdam. He underwent two operations and four cycles of chemotherapy, each of those meaning five days in a hospital bed.
He returned to training in January last year and went on to score vital goals in Dortmund’s Bundesliga title challenge. Bayern Munich ultimately pipped his side to the crown on the final day.
But now Haller has the chance of another – thanks to Ivory Coast’s unlikely path to the final.
The 29-year-old forward’s goal against Congo was just the latest chapter in a remarkable story as the host nation has bounced between triumph and despair and back again to reach the final for the fifth time.