Injured at the start of CAN 2024, Ivory Coast striker Sébastien Haller gained momentum throughout the tournament and should influence the final on Sunday against Nigeria. Like the Elephants, his journey is one of rebirth, after two years marked by illness and injuries.
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What if he was the piece that Ivory Coast had been missing from the start? Started for the first time on Wednesday February 7 in the CAN 2024 semi-final against DR Congo, center forward Sébastien Haller scored the winning goal. Above all, he constantly weighed on the Congolese defense while the Elephants finally gave the impression of controlling the match, after five first matches more marked by madness and envy.
While celebrating this almost lucky volley sent into the back of Mpasi’s net, did the Ivory Coast striker finally find himself thinking about the journey he has taken and the challenges he has overcome over the past two years, after testicular cancer and a nasty ankle injury just before the CAN?
Not immediately, according to the person concerned: “I said to myself ‘phew’ above all. Finally we made it happen! Especially since I had missed an opportunity in the first half… I said to myself that it was a little relief. I thought of the joy I brought to the staff, to the supporters”. “Afterwards, I told myself that I hadn’t done all that for nothing,” explains Sébastien Haller.
The Dortmund striker promises to do his best to deliver victory in the final against Nigeria without shaking Elephants fans too much. “I spent the start of the competition in the stands. I know how frustrating it is. I will do everything to avoid that,” he promises.
“Haller is like the Ivory Coast. He has come a long way,” explains Emanuel Eboué, former international, finalist in 2006 with the Elephants. “He wasn’t 100% but he fought on the attacking front, against very solid Congolese defenders. Ivory Coast is proud to finally see him smile.”
Read alsoCAN 2024: three times miraculous, Ivory Coast no longer fears anything
From Auxerre to Dortmund via Ajax
Son of an Ivorian mother and a French father, Sébastien Haller was born in Ris-Orangis, in the Paris region. He started playing football at the age of 9 and quickly appeared on the radar of AJ Auxerre, which he joined at the age of 13.
In the prestigious training club, the attacker impressed and was quickly upgraded. He quickly piled up goals among the U15s, even ending a season with 50 goals in 19 matches. At 16, he was already playing with the club’s reserves in the CFA. He was launched into the pros in November 2013, where he had the difficult task of carrying the weight of the Auxerre attack, despite his young age.
The linear progression ends there. If his finishing qualities and his aerial game are unanimous, he is criticized for a certain nonchalance. Lacking playing time, he was loaned to the Netherlands, to Utrecht, with an option to buy. His career took off there and he made a series of record signings: Eintracht Frankfurt, West Ham then Ajax Amsterdam where he revealed himself to the world, notably in the Champions League. He scored 10 goals in the group stage alone for his discovery of the competition.
Cancer and doubts
After this season full of promise at Ajax Amsterdam, Sébastien Haller transferred to Borussia Dortmund. An arrival with great fanfare but the diagnosis of testicular cancer forced him to withdraw from the field in July 2022 for treatment. His career was put on hold for several months.
Although he returned to the field six months later, he never recovered his past performance and has now been chomping at the bit at Dortmund since the start of the season. Quite the opposite of the selection, which offers him a breath of fresh air: in six appearances since his cancer, he has scored four goals. Logically, he was impatiently awaiting the CAN. However, a very nasty injury in December in Mainz compromised his participation in the African Cup.
“I wanted to make my contribution”
“Coach Jean-Louis Gasset wondered for a long time whether to take him, just like for Simon Adingra (also injured at the start of the competition, NLDR). Ultimately, they were going to bring us a lot,” explains Emerse Faé, the successor Frenchman at the helm of the Elephants. “These are two weapons of mass destruction.”
Sébastien Haller doesn’t hide it, he had doubts for a long time: “I had planned to arrive in Ivory Coast during the holidays before the CAN to prepare myself as best as possible. Coming with a splint was not easy . I doubted,” he admits. “But I have a family, friends and a country who support me. They made me realize that I was important. It helped me to cope with the hours of care since December 21. I wanted to do my part to the building.”
Given his personal journey, when he talks about resilience after having seen death up close, the message is even stronger than when it comes to his partners: “We have come a long way. Everyone has experienced quite complicated moments after Equatorial Guinea. We don’t have much to lose. We were lucky to have a second one. It’s up to us not to waste it,” he enjoins.
