"I found out I was on the Ballon d'Or list after my second chemo"

Finding out you have cancer is one of the most important moments in a person's life. When you are at the peak of your sporting career and have just made the leap to the big leagues, it is even more frightening. But Sebatian Haller overcame all that to aim for his first Champions League final.

The Ivorian striker spoke to 'Le Parisien' about aspects of his career and how he found out he had cancer: "I was training in Switzerland with Dortmund and as I had complained of abdominal discomfort, the club's osteopath advised me to have an ultrasound scan.

"When the doctors did it, they told me it was deeper and that they would have to do an MRI scan. The next day they did the tests and immediately told me it was a tumour. I don't have much medical knowledge, so I don't know what a tumour is. Then I had to see a specialist. I was in the dark, I didn't know how long it was going to last or what treatment I was going to get," he said.

Haller remembers calling his wife "because she was going to be the one who was going to be most impacted by this life change". "I advise her to sit down, explain to her what I have, the consequences this will have on our life and that the routine will change a little bit. I then called my brothers to tell them to stay with my mother that night as the club was going to have to announce the news. They were especially surprised because my mother lost her sister to cancer in 2020. So I wanted them to be with her when the news broke," he added.

"Then comes the day when I find out that I am completely recovered, or rather in remission because you have to wait a year before you can say that you are completely recovered. It's a relief. I was confident and serene, but hearing it from the doctor was a relief. I was able to announce it at Christmas," he confessed.

Haller spoke not only about that time in his life, but also about other important moments in his career. One of them was the day he found out that he had been included among the finalists for the Ballon d'Or: "That day I am sick and at home in the Netherlands. I had just had my second chemotherapy, it's August. I receive messages from my loved ones. It's a pride, I take it as a reward and at that moment it obviously felt good. I didn't expect to be there at all.

The striker made his Champions League debut by scoring four goals against Sporting CP: "The game started perfectly. I scored after two minutes and I told myself that it was a success. After seven minutes I scored the second and I said to myself that I can walk the whole game. These four goals change something in my season and in my career. It brings a certain notoriety, respect, fear. It changes a lot of things in a career, but I quickly put things in perspective and immediately told myself to take it with caution because it doesn't change at all the player I was before".

 

May 7, 2024