Hosts Ivory Coast triumph at the Africa Cup. Sebastien Haller, striker for Borussia Dortmund, scores the winning goal in the final.

What a day for Sebastien Haller: the Borussia Dortmund striker celebrated the title with the Ivory Coast national team at the Africa Cup on Sunday. The hosts of the tournament won the final against Nigeria 2:1 (0:1). Haller played a major role in this. In the final phase, he scored the winning goal for Ivory Coast, artistically tipping a half-high cross into the goal (81st minute).

The West African country triumphed for the third time overall at the Africa Cup. BVB attacker Haller had already emerged as the match winner in the semi-final. He scored the only goal of the game as he fired the team around coach Emerse Faé to a 1-0 win against the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 29-year-old was also successful from the penalty spot in the round of 16 against Senegal (4-5 on penalties). Haller had missed the group stage due to injury.

Before the final, Haller’s teammates from Borussia Dortmund got in touch. They wished Haller luck for the game with a message on social media. However, the Ivory Coast got off to an unfortunate start. William Troost-Ekong put Nigeria in the lead towards the end of the first half (38′). He headed a corner kick into the goal. After just over a minute, Franck Kessié equalized for Ivory Coast, who were superior in terms of play, also with a header.

And after 75 minutes, Haller made his first big appearance. With a spectacular scissors kick, he narrowly missed the opposing goal. A little later, the Dortmund player, who made a comeback after surviving cancer about a year ago, scored to make it 2-1 and let the fans in the sold-out stadium in the metropolis of Abidjan cheer. The 2-1 victory saw Ivory Coast through to the next round. “I’m a striker, I have to score goals, so I feel the pressure,” said Haller before the game – and he delivered in the final. (ea)