Sébastien Haller enjoyed the long-awaited moment of happiness to the fullest. The attacker stood with outstretched arms in front of the roaring Dortmund south stand – inspired by the ovations of the fans. With his first goal for BVB just a few months after his cancer surgery and chemotherapy, a dream came true for the 28-year-old in a 5-1 (1-1) win over SC Freiburg. “I’ve been waiting for this since day one. You’re floating on a cloud. Not only the stadium, but also my team-mates were on fire,” Haller enthused.
When he was lucky enough to be substituted just ten minutes after his header, another hurricane swept through the largest Bundesliga stadium. Intoxicated by the good mood, Haller, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last summer, wanted more: “It gives me a boost.” BVB coach Edin Terzic seemed just as happy as Haller: “That he scored that first goal in front of the yellow Wall succeeds, rounds it off. It means a lot to him, it means a lot to us. We hope it was the first of many goals.”
Not only the successful comeback of the Ivorian national player on World Cancer Day, but also the splendid performance of the entire team put the fans in a more euphoric mood than they had in a long time. After four wins in the past four games, there were even “champion” chants from the ranks again. Benefiting from the early dismissal of Kiliann Sildillia from Freiburg, Borussia got into a frenzy in the second half and scored more goals from Nico Schlotterbeck, Karim Adeyemi, Julian Brandt and Giovanni Reyna to a thumping victory.
Our toolbox is getting bigger. We need that by May.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.
However, Terzic warned against premature euphoria: “It does us no good to start the year well. The next M-word is May. Until then we can win a lot of points. We know that we have to stay focused.” The return of injured key players like Marco Reus, who was in the starting XI for the first time since mid-September, and the improvement in form among professionals like Adeyemi and Brandt also strengthen the Dortmund coach’s confidence: “Our toolbox becomes bigger. We need that by May.”
In contrast to BVB, Freiburg, who came to the equalizer in front of 81,365 spectators in the sold-out Dortmund stadium through Lucas Höler, have been struggling since the end of the winter break. As with the 0: 6 against Wolfsburg in the first game in 2023, there was a hearty defeat. After just one win in four attempts, they dropped to sixth place in the table.
In addition, Christian Streich was unsuccessful in his eleventh game as SC coach in Dortmund. His frustration increased when he saw a yellow card in the final phase after a critical comment and a little later a yellow-red after mocking applause.
For all his anger at what he saw as the “lack of proportionality” in referee Robert Schröder’s decisions, Streich was remorseful after his fourth ban from the coaching bench: “That was my stupidity, it doesn’t help the team. I am extremely annoyed with myself.” (dpa)
Source: Tagesspiegel
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
