Haller back in Ivory Coast squad after cancer treatment

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 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 as part of qualifying for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Lille winger Jonathan Bamba received his first call-up having previously played for France at youth level.

Ivory Coast is host of the tournament that has been pushed back from this June and July to January-February 2024 in a bid to avoid the rainy season.

23-man squad:

Goalkeepers (3) : Charles Folly Ayayi (Asec Mimosas), Badra Ali Sangare (Sekhukhune/RSA), 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 Kossounou (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Wilfried Singo, (Torino/ITA), Abakar Sylla (Club Brugge/BEL)

Midfielders (10) : Simon Adingra (Union Saint-Gilloise/BEL), Jean-Eudes Aholou (Strasbourg/FRA), Jonathan Bamba (Lille/FRA), Amad Diallo (Sunderland/ENG), Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Trabzonspor/TUR), Max-Alain Gradel (Sivasspor/TUR), Franck Kessie (Barcelona/ESP), Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Jean-Michael Seri (Hull/ENG), Hamed Junior Traore (Bournemouth/ENG)

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