Sebastian Haller hero – 1.5 years after the cancer diagnosis
Updated 14.23 | Published 2024-02-11 23.00
share-arrowDela
unsaveSpara
Ivory Coast are African champions at home after an unlikely trip.
Sebastian Haller scored late in the final against Nigeria.
And broke down in the interview afterwards.
With ten regular minutes remaining, Simon Adingra made his way around the left wing.
In front of the goal, he found Sebastian Haller, who got a toe on the ball and headed in a decisive 2–1.
“Unprecedented”
As late as July 2022, the 29-year-old suffered from testicular cancer. In February of the following year, he was declared healthy and could return to football.
19 months after the cancer diagnosis, he crowned the country’s crazy journey to the championship title.
– Champions in a way that is literally unparalleled, says Erik Niva in Viaplay.
With the country calculated, the national team captain had to go after the group stage. Stolpe in with other results took the country on as third in the group – despite just one win and minus three in goal difference. Once in the playoffs, the matches were marked by deficits and late goals.
Third title
Something that thus repeated itself in the final.
At the end of the first half, Nigeria’s captain William Troost-Ekong headed in the first goal of the match from a corner.
But a quarter into the second, Franck Kessie equalized in the same way before the “Elephants” completed the turnaround.
The title is Ivory Coast’s third at the African Championships and first since 2015.
expand-left
full screen Ivory Coast champions at home. Photo: Themba Hadebe / AP
