Comeback after cancer
BVB celebrates Haller’s hat-trick in 7:32 minutes
01/14/2023, 09:00 am
In the summer of 2022, Borussia Dortmund will make the striker Sebastien Haller a record transfer. But before the Ivorian is on the pitch for the first time, he receives the shock diagnosis of testicular cancer. Now he’s back and hinting at what he can give BVB in a friendly against Basel.
A hat-trick that gives hope: Sebastien Haller scored the first goals for Borussia Dortmund in his second appearance after being shocked with the diagnosis of testicular cancer. The striker scored three goals for BVB within 7:32 minutes in the 6-0 (3-0) friendly win of the Bundesliga club against FC Basel in Marbella, Spain. “It’s the best possible feeling,” said the Ivory Coast international after his strong performance: “Coming back, scoring goals, helping the team and feeling my body feel better and better every day. I hope that I can can help the team.”
In the 81st minute, Haller, who had celebrated his comeback three days earlier in the 5-1 win against second division side Fortuna Düsseldorf, scored for the first time in a Dortmund shirt with a penalty kick. With his other goals (86th, 88th), the French made the 6-0 final score. BVB coach Edin Terzić saw the penalty to make it 4-0 as the starting point for Haller’s strong performance. “You could see how well he did. That often makes things feel easier on the pitch. You could see the quality he has in the penalty area.”
Terzić then highlighted Haller’s third goal in particular. “We set out to work on the standards. We put in a really good block that Sebastien was very free to make contact with. The contact was then extraordinary,” he said. In the game, which was played over 4 × 30 minutes, Marco Reus (39th), Donyell Malen (49th) and Jude Bellingham (54th, penalty kick) had set the course for a BVB victory.
Haller and Co. will be back in the Bundesliga next Sunday. At the start after the winter break, Dortmund will meet FC Augsburg in a home game (3.30 p.m. / DAZN). In the table, BVB is only in sixth place with 25 points. After the game against Augsburg, two difficult away games are on the agenda with trips to Mainz and Leverkusen.