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On one of the main highways in Treichville, a bustling district in the Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan, people weave in and out of traffic trying to sell you everything you can possibly imagine.
Vendors skirt around the hoods of cars and nimbly sidestep out of the way of motorcycles to offer up sunglasses, pillows, toothpicks, perfumes, footballs, socks, carpets and cameras through small gaps in the windows. Women in traditional dresses glide across the cracked asphalt on sandals to supply you with peanuts, fruit and local delicacies while a man strolls through the gridlocked vehicles pushing a large wooden wheelbarrow.
One man’s face overlooks all of the madness. Sebastien Haller, Ivory Coast’s talisman, is plastered across billboards advertising a range of products. The Borussia Dortmund striker is everywhere in the city — except on the pitch where he is needed the most.
Ivory Coast players help advertise electronics in Abidjan (Jay Harris/The Athletic)
Haller has been prevented from playing so far due to an ankle injury, yet the host nation’s squad still contains Nottingham Forest’s Ibrahim Sangare, former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe and Bayer Leverkusen centre-back…
