Domestic and foreign media praised Ajax on Thursday and especially Sébastien Haller after the victory over Sporting Portugal in the Champions League. Haller led his team to a special 1-5 victory with no fewer than four goals. Also in France, the achievement of the former French youth international did not go unnoticed. “Now the French media is also asking whether it was not a missed opportunity,” assures Didier Martel, who is considered the discoverer of Haller.
Haller now plays his A-international matches for Ivory Coast, his mother’s country. In the past, France’s national coaches invariably chose other players. “I have always been surprised that Sébastien has been completely ignored by national coach Didier Deschamps,” says Martel, who found Haller as a scout of FC Utrecht at the second of Auxerre, Friday in The Telegraph. “I’ve always been convinced that he had the qualities for the French team.”
DREAM START! ?? There is just one minute on the clock and Haller heads it in ?? Good thing they registered it @elsierd ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #SCPAJA pic.twitter.com/eXJn8IgwjN
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 15, 2021
“I think Sébastien could very well have taken over the role from Olivier Giroud in the future, but that opportunity is now gone. A big mistake by Deschamps.” In his own words, Martel was immediately convinced of Haller’s possibilities when he saw him at work in the second of Auxerre. “I saw immediately that he was a real finisher with a great presence in the penalty area.”
FC Utrecht first took Haller on a rental basis and then paid a relatively hefty purchase price of almost a million euros. “Internally there was quite a bit of doubt about the purchase price, but Jordy (Zuidam, technical director, ed.) and I were the great champions and eventually pushed through. That turned out great,” club owner Frans van Seumeren told the newspaper.
With his performance in Lisbon, Haller convincingly dealt with the criticism he has received lately. “Somehow I still understood the discussion,” says Van Seumeren. “It sometimes looks a bit phlegmatic what Sébastien does on the field, but he is so incredibly refined and knows exactly where to stand to score.” Martel resented the criticism. “Of course he is not a spectacular player who dribbles past four or five players. But he is a striker with a great physical appearance, who is always in the right place to score. And that’s what football is all about.”