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Ivorian striker Sebastien Haller has shared some of his experiences during his battle with cancer
Borussia Dortmund’s Ivorian striker Sebastien Haller has opened up about his emotional state while battling cancer and the joy of being back on the playing field.
Haller was sidelined for six months while he battled testicular cancer shortly after joining Borussia Dortmund from Ajax.
Haller’s battle with cancer
He could not join his new team in the first half of the Bundesliga season, but finally made his competitive debut for Dortmund against Augsburg on the 22nd of January, 2023, and even created an assist for Gio Reyna’s winner against Mainz just three days later.
In an interview with L’Equipe, Haller spoke about his admiration for the doctors who oversaw his recovery and the role that his attitude and the people around him played in his recovery.
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He claimed that he was never afraid of his circumstances, saying “I said to myself: why be scared? If something has to happen, it will happen. If you have some control over it, then you can feel some apprehension, some fear, but in this case – I had no choice but to have faith in the doctors, who were exceptional with me.
“I had to carry on being mentally strong, have the right people around me and tell myself that with this attitude I’d get through this.”
Haller also spoke about the emotional wranglings he went through while dealing with the illness, and discussed what he felt was a change in public perception of him due to his condition at the time.
“You want to show that everything is fine, but there’s this look of pity, which tells you that you’re ill. It’s actually fine, don’t worry! [laughs] It’s not mean, people want to be compassionate, and I understand it because they want to talk about it. It’s not often a footballer gets cancer.”
Haller’s return to fitness
Haller’s return to fitness and his first competitive match were greeted with a lot of emotion by players and staff of Dortmund, as well as football fans who knew what he had gone through to play again.
Haller also mentioned his personal emotions during his first game back, saying that he felt intense emotions as he took to the pitch again but could not dwell on them for long since his team needed him to try and get a winning goal.
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Haller acknowledged this saying, “It was a strong emotion. I had it in my line of sight from day one, to show my quality, in the knowledge that behind that there had been a fight. It added to my desire. We were all waiting for it. The only thing that lowered the intensity of the emotions was the scoreline because I’m a competitor first and foremost and I came on at 2-2”
Haller is yet to score his first goal since returning but when he does, it is sure to be an even more emotional moment for the Ivorian striker.
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