Haller back in Ivory Coast squad after cancer treatment

Abidjan. Ivory Coast centre forward Sebastien Haller was recalled to the national squad for matches against Comoros on Wednesday after an absence of several months during which he underwent treatment for testicular cancer.

The 28-year-old forward joined Borussia Dortmund in July from Ajax Amsterdam and only managed a few training sessions after which the cancer was detected.

He underwent two operations and four cycles of chemotherapy before resuming training in January. He began playing again on January 22 and scored his first goal after his illness on February 4 against Freiburg.

Haller, who has scored four goals playing for Ivory Coast's national team will play in games against Comoros on March 24 and 28 for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ivory Coast is the tournament's organiser this year.

The 23 players selected:

Goalkeepers (3): Charles Folly Ayayi (Asec Mimosas), Badra Ali Sangare (Sekhukhune/AFS), Eliezer Tape Ira (Bahid Dar Kenema/ETH)

Defenders (7): Serge Aurier (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Eric Bailly (Marseille/FRA), Souleymane Doumbia (Angers/FRA), Ghislain Konan (Al Nassr/RSA), Odilon Kossonou (Bayer Leverkusen/ALL), Wilfried Singo, (Torino/ITA, Abakar Sylla (Club Bruges/BEL)

Midfielders (10): Simon Adingra (Union Saint-Gilles/BEL), Jean-Eudes Aholou (Strasbourg/FRA), Jonathan Bamba (Lille/FRA), Amad Diallo (Sunderland/ENG, D2), Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Trabzonspor/TUR), Max-Alain Gradel (Sivasspor/TUR), Franck Kessie (FC Barcelone/ESP), Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven/PB), Jean-Michaël Seri (Hull City/ENG, D2), Hamed Junior Traoré (Bournemouth/ENG)

Forwards (3): Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund/ALL), Christian Kouame (Fiorentina/ITA), Jean-Philippe Krasso (Saint-Etienne, FRA, D2)