At some point, even Sebastien Haller had to wipe away some tears from his eyes. “We dreamed so many times of this moment,” said the emotional Borussia Dortmund forward after triumphing in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) with the Ivory Coast national team.
With his winning goal in the 81st minute in the final against Nigeria (2-1), Haller handed the “Elephants” their third AFCON triumph – all the more special on home soil. “We believed until the end,” said the 29-year-old player. “My teammates encouraged me to stay on the field for as long as possible, and thanks to them, I scored a goal.”
Haller had already scored the decisive goal in the semi-final against the Democratic Republic of Congo to secure a spot in the final. “It was one of my main goals to give my all in the AFCON,” he said. Haller missed the entire group stage due to an injury, “my ankle is still not fully healed, but it was good enough for today.”
The Ivory Coast’s triumph seemed unthinkable just a few weeks ago. After two defeats in the preliminary stage, coach Jean-Louis Gasset was sacked, and the Ivorians only managed to advance thanks to the “support” of their rivals. “It’s more than a fairy tale,” said Gasset’s successor, Emerse Fae.
Haller’s story as a fairy tale
For Borussia Dortmund’s striker himself, the dramatization of the AFCON also resembles a parable of his last two and a half years. Shortly after moving from the Netherlands to Germany in 2022, the tall forward was diagnosed with a tumor, and football took a back seat. The Ivorian spent the following months undergoing chemotherapy instead of training with the team, and his return to the pitch seemed more than doubtful.
But Haller fought back: in February 2023, he officially announced that he had beaten cancer and gradually returned to the BVB team. It seemed like Haller’s luck was finally turning, but on the last matchday of the Bundesliga season, he suffered a major setback.
BVB only needed one more home win against Mainz 05 to clinch the German championship, and everything was set for a big celebration. Haller could have become the hero of the Signal Iduna Park when he stepped up to take a penalty in the 20th minute, but he missed. In the end, Borussia let the victory slip away, Bayern won at the same time, and overtook BVB in the final stretch. Haller lay on the ground for a few minutes after the final whistle.
Since then, his status with the Black & Yellows hasn’t improved, with Niclas Fรผllkrug and Youssoufa Moukoko ahead of him in the Bundesliga hierarchy. But the AFCON could once again change the course of Sebastien Haller’s career.
