Sebastien Haller: Ivory Coast AFCON Hero Was 'Abused' By Fans During Tournament While Injured

• Ivory Coast star, Sebastien Haller, has discussed AFCON 2023
• He scored the winner as the hosts beat Nigeria's Super Eagles
• Haller will miss the Elephants' games with Benin and Uruguay

Sebastien Haller has stated that he suffered abuse from Ivory Coast fans during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations while he was sidelined by an injury.

The Borussia Dortmund star missed the group stage due to the setback as the Elephants almost left the competition after a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea.

However, the AFCON hosts were handed a lifeline after Morocco defeated Zambia in the final round of games to help Ivory Coast sneak through to the Round of 16.

Fortunately for the Elephants, the ex-West Ham United star recovered from his injury in due course, going on to score the winner in the AFCON final.

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Before the tournament's knockout stages, Haller was described by fans as useless despite putting in work to recover for the rest of the competition.

"I came down the stairs into the stands and people were yelling at me: 'You're useless. You're not even playing, you're just doing commercials," he told The Athletic, as quoted by 13 Football.

"I felt a little dead inside. I spent the whole competition doing breakfast, treatment, gym, treatment, gym. I ended every day at 1 am because I was doing all this work. It was a nightmare," he added.

Haller went from a villain to a hero after playing a huge role in the elimination stages, scoring in the penalty shootout victory over Senegal before netting the important winner against DR Congo in the semi-final.

Speaking on winning the trophy, he added:

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"I don’t even know how that was possible. It's just fate. We can try to explain it, but the truth is that we have no control over anything."

The 29-year-old will miss Ivory Coast's friendlies against Benin and Uruguay due to injury, as reported by Reuters.

Haller given hero's welcome at Dortmund

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Sebastien Haller received a kingly welcome from his club after returning as an AFCON winner.

The Borussia Dortmund forward scored the winner as Ivory Coast came from a goal down to beat Nigeria and win their third trophy.

Having missed the opening round due to injury, Haller was decisive in the knockout stages and scored a winner in the AFCON final.