Last Sunday was the first day of the rest of his life.
Of a new life.
After several months fighting against testicular cancer detected last July, Sébastien Haller has become a football player again.
Entering the game in the 62nd minute, to the ovation of the 82,000 spectators at the Westfalenstadion, sold out for the occasion, the Borussia Dortmund striker participated in the victory (4-3) against Augsburg.
At his feet a pair of shoes that read "F*ck cancer".
At the end of the match, he was joined on the lawn by his three children.
If he did not score for his return, is his personal victory stronger, more important.
Essential.
It is this fight, his months in hell, that the native of Ris-Orangis (Essonne) told this Wednesday in an interview with the daily L'Équipe.
A poignant interview, where the Ivorian international striker hides nothing.
From his first symptoms when he is with the Ivorian selection to healing, moments of doubt but not fear - "We had to continue to be mentally strong" -, through the announcement to his relatives, to his wife who is on vacation with their three children but also to his mother.
“I call my brothers and sister to tell them to be with mom in the evening because my aunt who was also her best friend died of cancer in February 2020… It remains a trauma in the family and I knew that she would take this announcement hard.
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He also confides in the two operations and the four five-day chemo sessions.
“The chemo broke my body from the inside, the operation from the outside.
So you're picking up little by little.
And after the chemo, even though you feel pretty good, you really look sick, you have sunken eyes, no more hair, black lips… And the first few days, because of the catheter in my throat, I had a voice of a guy who had caught a cold.
You had to recover to find her because you spoke so softly, without force.
It was weird (smile).
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Without ever feeling sorry for himself, even with a hint of humor that permeates throughout the interview, he says that the view of others changes, that he is aware of provoking the pity of others.
“You want to show that everything is fine, but there is a kind of look of pity, I don't know, that shows you that you are sick.
In fact, it's fine!
Don't worry (laughs)!
It's not mean, people are compassionate, and I understand that because they want to talk about it.
It's not often that a footballer gets cancer.
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The presence of his family, his friends and Tanguy Fleury, his physical trainer with whom he is competing in a half-marathon, was essential to hold on during his long months.
During this experience that changed him.
“In illness, there are moments that bring people together, it feels good.
And we open up.
We are not quite the same, we no longer have the same history, the same way of having to face the tests.
There is so much to experience, you savor even more when you go through it all.
A strong testimony.