World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

WestHammisfitmakesheadlinesinChampionsLeagueandAfrica

SEBASTIEN HALLER

orSebastienHaller, 2 021
beganbycrawlingout of a
deepvalley, butendedatthe
topof a mountain,theheightofwhich
hehadnever reachedbefore.
Whowouldhavethoughteverything
wouldturnoutsowellwhenWestHam
UnitedoffloadedtheFrench-bornstriker
inJanuary afteronly 18 months?Their
£45millionrecord signingstruggledto
adapttothePremierLeagueandwas
ultimatelyusurpedbyMichailAntonio
asthe Hammers’first-choicestriker.
Hallerwas happy to joinAjax in a
€22.5m dealandreunitewithErikten
Hag,themanwhocoachedhim at FC
Utrecht.Inreturn,theAmsterdamclub
weresatisfiedthattheyhadfounda top
strikertodovetailwithDusanTadicin
theirEuropaLeaguecampaign.
However, thatsatisfactionsoon
turnedtodespair, whenHallerwas
mistakenly omittedfromAjax’s Europa
Leaguesquadlist. A computererror,it
wassaid;human errorismorelikely-
teammanagerJanSiemerinksimply
forgottoaddanextra name.
Itwas an errorthatwould cost them
dearly. Therecord-breakingsigning,the
lastpieceoftheEuropeanjigsaw,wasn’t
allowedto play,and Ajax were knocked
outby Romainthe quarter-finals.
Hallerscored 13 domesticgoalsas
Ajaxwon thedouble,buthisfocuswas
alwaysonmakinghismarkonEurope.
Thisseason,hehasmorethanmade
upfor lost time.OnhisChampions
Leaguedebut,hescoredfouragainst
Sporting- thefirst playerto do so since
Marco vanBastenatMilanin 19 92.
Andhe remainedonfire,becoming
onlythe secondplayer(alongwith
CristianoRonaldo)toscore in every
ChampionsLeaguegroupgameina
singlecampaign,whilehealsobecame
thefirstfootballerinhistorytoscorein
eachofhisfirstsixChampionsLeague

appearances,asAjaxclinched

qualificationwith time to spare.

Despitethesenumbers,Haller

still hasotherpeopletoconvince;

noteverybodythinksheisbig-league

material- includingDidierDeschamps.

Atthe endof 20 20,Haller – who

competedforFrance at theUnder- 17

WorldCupin 2 01 1 – declared forIvory

Coast,where hismotherwas born.

JustliketheChampionsLeague,he

wasan instanthit.After scoringonhis

debutagainstMadagascarinNovember

2020 , he wasontargettwiceina crucial

World CupqualifieragainstCameroon

inSeptember. With threegoalsineight

capsheisalreadyshapinguptobe

DidierDrogba’ssuccessor.

OptingfortheAfrican countryinstead

ofplayingalongsideKylianMbappeor

AntoineGriezmann?Hallerhasno

regrets:“I’mnotgivingupanything

• I didnotgo to theA-teamandI do
  notregretthischoiceatall,” he told
  FranceFootball. “I’m glad I didn’tgo
  becauseotherwiseI wouldn’thave
  beenabletoreachIvory Coast.”
  Since thatcostlyadminerror,Haller’s
  careerhasbeenonthe rise,andthere’s
  plentymore to come.InJanuary he will
  spearheadIvory Coast’s attackasthey
  chasetheirthirdAFCONtitle,before
  returningtodothe sameforAjaxin the
  ChampionsLeague.In 2022 , he could
  ascendevengreaterheights.
  Klaas-JanDroppert

Prolific...Haller

celebratesone

ofhisChampions

Leaguegoals

F

P L A Y

E R

P E O PL EO FT H EYE A R

LIONELMESSI

ForArgentinathere

weretears of joyas

heliftedhisfirstmajor

internationaltrophy;for

Barcelona therewere

tears of despairashe

wasforcedoutof the

clubthatheloved.

GIANLUIGI

DONNARUMMA

The 2 2-year-oldkeeper

wontheEuros,was voted

theofficialPlayerofthe

Tournamentandjoined

Paris Saint-Germainon

a freetransfer. Quite

theyearforGigio.

MASONMOUNT

Wereitnot fora coupleof

missedpenalties,Mount

mayhavereplacedhis

Chelsea team-mate

Jorginhoasthe UEFA

PlayeroftheYear,asa

European championfor

bothcluband country.

H O N OU R A BL EM EN T I ON S