Ivory Coast and Borussia Dortmund striker, Sebastien Haller’s story of how he beat the deadly ailment 18 months ago, and became the match-winner for Ivory Coast in their 2-1 triumph over the Super Eagles of Nigeria is a very inspiring story. Like, he was battling with testicular cancer that almost claimed his life, and now he is an African champion.
Sebastien Haller is a true definition of resilience and perseverance as the Ivorian striker struggled to find the back of the net while at West ham to becoming the Champions League top scorer when he moved to Ajax.
We can recall the striker’s time at West ham when he struggled to score goals and fell out of the coach’s favor. Haller didn’t give up as he moved to Ajax, where he picked form, and things started getting better for his career to the extent that he scored the most goals in the Champions League of that campaign.
Haller’s impressive performance for Ajax attracted interest from other top European clubs but he eventually signed for Bundesliga side, Borussia Dortmund. It was at Borussia Dortmund that he got diagnosed with testicular cancer which made him go bald and quit playing football for the main time as he had 2 surgeries and multiple chemotherapy sessions.
The Ivorian striker fortunately beat cancer after receiving several rounds of chemotherapy and resumed playing for Dortmund. Fast forward to January 2023, Haller was invited as part of the Ivory Coast squad to play in the AFCON tournament. He (Haller) was instrumental for Ivory Coast as he scored the winning goal of the final match of the tournament that made Ivory Coast champions of Africa.
Haller, who was battling cancer just 18 months ago rose from beating the deadly ailment to beating the Super Eagles with his Simon Adingra assisted AFCON final winning goal.
