Franco-Ivorian striker Sébastien Haller, who has been recovering for months from testicular cancer, played a few minutes in Borussia Dortmund's friendly against Fortuna Düsseldorf in Marbella, Spain.
Haller came on in the 28th minute of the second half as Borussia Dortmund won 5-1.
"It was an extraordinary moment - he commented on the yellow and black club's website -. Playing is a much stronger feeling than training or racing. I missed this feeling".
It is the first time that the 28-year-old wears the shirt of the German club: he was diagnosed with cancer in July 2022, a few days after signing the contract with Borussia Dortmund, where he had moved from Ajax in Amsterdam.
Sébastien Haller has since undergone two operations and undergone four cycles of chemotherapy;
he continued to train alone during the treatment and only resumed working with his teammates last Saturday.
On Tuesday he had expressed optimism and the hope of participating in today's match, in view of the restart of the Bundesliga scheduled for January 22 against Augsburg.
"It was a special moment for 'Seb' and for his family, but also for us," commented Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. training. We are proud of what he did and that we were able to prove it today".
Borussia Dortmund are currently sixth in the Bundesliga, 9 points behind Bayern Munich.
The club will also be present in the round of 16 of the Champions League, in which they will face Chelsea (first leg on 15 February at home).
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/S7ERVSCT4FUVX6R7TUVBDNTH5Y.jpg)
