After a long period of suffering, striker Sébastien Haller scored his first goal for BVB – in front of the yellow wall on World Cancer Day. Fans and club celebrate the redeeming moment with the Ivorian. Teammate Nico Schlotterbeck even reports “goosebumps all over his body”.
Striker Sébastien Haller dreamed of his debut goal for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. “It was in my head from day one to score in front of the yellow wall. It was the best possible day,” said the Ivorian after the 5-1 win over SC Freiburg. Haller, who was only in the starting XI for the second time after suffering from testicular cancer, scored on World Cancer Day of all times. He wore shoes that said “F*ck Cancer” on his feet.
“It means a lot to me that I scored the goal on that date,” Haller said on Sky. “That gives me a boost.” And further: “I’m happy and I hope that I’ve made a lot of other people happy. But the road is long and we’ll walk it and hopefully score a lot more goals.”
Saturday afternoon was almost perfect for Sebastian Kehl. “You could hardly have written this story better,” said the sporting director. Nico Schlotterbeck, who gave BVB the lead against his former club, was also enthusiastic: “I had goosebumps all over my body, it was something extraordinary. He’s an incredible target player, he has brutal power.”
Haller scored his first competitive goal for BVB in the 51st minute, after a cross the attacker headed in unhindered in front of the south curve in the Westfalenstadion. The newcomer made its debut just two weeks ago. “It should be like this,” said Haller, who has undergone chemotherapy and two cancer surgeries.
