Sebastian Haller was in tears as he delivered an emotional speech while on stage at the Eredivise Awards.
The 28-year-old striker, who scored 21 goals for league champions Ajax last season, was the Eredivisie's top goalscorer in 2021/22, beating the likes of Lois Openda, Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Vangelis Pavlidis in the standings.
To honour that achievement, Haller collected the Willy van der Kuijlen trophy on Tuesday night as his wife, Priscilla, watched on from the crowd. You can see that emotional moment below.
It has been an incredibly tough few weeks for the Ivory Coast international.
Haller penned a four-year deal with Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in July following an impressive campaign but weeks later, he was diagnosed with a testicular tumor after the striker complained of feeling unwell in training.
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He left the club's pre-season training camp in Switzerland on Monday and had a successful operation soon after.
Earlier this week, in an interview with ESPNNL, the striker said he is "feeling really good" as he continues to recover.
"I signed for Dortmund and everything was fine," he explained. "I think my family and everyone was quite happy with the situation. And then I don’t know. I felt something uncomfortable in my belly. And then from there it went really, really quick.
"The next day at 9 o’clock in the morning I had an MRI scan. They said, ‘oh, we see something. We should check again’. So I went to have a biopsy because they thought it was maybe a tumour. I had lots of examinations in less than 24 hours. I had to wait for surgery to make sure and to know exactly what it was.
"They knew directly that it was this [diagnosis]. So I was really lucky to have all those checks so quick. And now I know."
He added: "The first thing I was thinking was, ‘come on, I’ve been here for 10 days or two weeks and I can’t even play for the club'. I was thinking about the club saying ‘it doesn’t look like a good deal’, but when you really think about it you know that there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s not something you could avoid.
"When you have this treatment you have five days in the hospital and you are plugged in for 24 hours five days. You can’t move, you can’t do anything. You’re just on your bed. It’s especially in that moment that you lose muscle and your fitness.
"Right now I feel really good. I feel really good. From the first day I came back home I started to walk. I was in the gym. I’m even at the same level I was a few months ago. That’s a good sign. I just hope it keeps going like that.
"My wife, my mum were here so that I could eat well. A lot of people gave me this confidence to go through. I need to say to everyone that I feel good and make sure that a lot of people get checked."
Topics: Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Eredivisie
Jack Kenmare