Heartbreak for ex Hammer Sebasiten Haller as penalty miss hands Declan Rice suitors Bayern Munich the title but he’s the true champion.
Former West Ham star Sebastien Haller made headlines worldwide with his amazing comeback from cancer this season.
There is an old saying ‘once a Hammer, always a Hammer’ and that very much applies to ex striker Haller despite his difficult spell in east London.
Haller may have divided opinion as a player at West Ham but – by all accounts – was a quiet, unassuming and well-liked member of the squad.
Sometimes clubs and players just don’t fit in football. And Hammers fans have seen this season that Haller is not the only big money signing who has struggled to make a big impact in the Premier League with West Ham.
The best comeback of the year bar none
The Ivory Coast international did so well at Ajax after leaving West Ham that he was snapped up by German giants Borussia Dortmund last summer as Erling Haaland’s replacement.
Haller has only had positive things to say about West Ham since leaving, despite things not working out after his then record £45m move to the London Stadium.
But Haller’s career was put on hold for six months after he was diagnosed with cancer just weeks after arriving back in Germany.
A tumour was discovered on the 28-year-old former West Ham forward’s testicles.
Ex Hammer Haller underwent two surgeries and chemotherapy since and images had emerged of him online during that time without hair and looking understandably frail.
Heartbreak for ex Hammer Sebasiten Haller as penalty miss hands Declan Rice suitors Bayern Munich the title but he’s the true champion
But it says everything about the man that he was back fit, strong and scoring goals just months later for Dortmund in what remains the best comeback of the season bar none.
It looked like it was going to be a fairytale ending to the season for Haller with Dortmund too.
They went into the final game of the season atop the Bundesliga table ahead of Bayern with just ninth-placed Mainz standing in the way of a glorious title triumph.
It was not to be, though.
There was heartbreak for ex Hammer Haller as his penalty miss handed Declan Rice suitors Bayern Munich the title – but he’s the true champion.
Costly penalty miss will sting but nothing can take away from Haller’s biggest achievement of all
Dortmund went 1-0 down after just 15 minutes. Former West Ham man Haller had the chance to bring the match level four minutes later but saw his penalty saved.
Five minutes later Mainz were 2-0 up as news filtered through that Bayern had also taken an early lead against FC Koln.
Dortmund got it back to 2-1 in the second half while Koln equalised with just nine minutes to play in their clash.
Bayern then scored a dramatic 89th minute winner. Dortmund managed to pull it back to 2-2 in the 96th minute to leave both clubs level on 71 points.
But the true cost of the penalty miss became clear with Dortmund needing to better Bayern’s result due to their superior goal difference.
Very sad for Haller and the less fancied Dortmund. But nothing can take away what he has achieved this season. He is the true champion.
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