HEIDENHEIM, Germany (AP) — Heidenheim goalscorer Eren Dinkçi was unable to hold back tears while fans celebrated his team’s win as he thought of his girlfriend with leukemia.
“The goal is for her, clearly,” the 24-year-old Dinkçi said after Heidenheim’s 2-0 win over St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on Saturday. “And I hope that it made her happy and the goal also gives her a bit of strength.”
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Heidenheim's Eren Dinkci, front left, scores his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
Heidenheim player Eren Dinkçi reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
Heidenheim player Eren Dinkçi reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
Heidenheim player Eren Dinkçi reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
Dinkçi, who’s on loan at Heidenheim from Freiburg, announced through both clubs’ websites this month that his girlfriend Cinja has leukemia and may need a stem cell donation.
Heidenheim organized a campaign with DKMS, a German-founded international charity helping people with blood cancer and blood disorders, to convince people to register as stem cell donors. Some 688 people registered around the team's game in Freiburg last weekend, and more were expected to do so around the game in Heidenheim on Saturday.
In a statement on the Heidenheim website, Dinkçi and his girlfriend Cinja stressed the action was not for their own benefit but that their encounters with other patients had made an impression and they wanted to help others.
Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt said it was apt Dinkçi got the goal that sealed the win.
“It’s a story that moves people in Germany and around the world, it moves me, too,” Schmidt said. “Eren has the opportunity through his reach to help his family, his girlfriend, but also many other people. I think you can see how much it resonated today and last week. First and foremost we’re not footballers, football coaches or machines — we’re people.”
Heidenheim is last in the Bundesliga and its win over St. Pauli staved off relegation for another week at least.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Heidenheim's Eren Dinkci, front left, scores his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
Heidenheim player Eren Dinkçi reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
Heidenheim player Eren Dinkçi reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
Heidenheim player Eren Dinkçi reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)
LYON, France (AP) — Forward Jule Brand scored the decisive goal in the 86th minute as OL Lyonnes beat titleholder Arsenal 3-1 to reach the Women’s Champions League final on Saturday.
Goals from captain Wendie Renard and striker Kadidiatou Diani put Lyon 2-0 up at halftime, but Alessia Russo's competition-leading ninth goal looked to have sent the game into extra time.
But Brand latched onto Melchie Dumornay's pass to make it 4-3 on aggregate for record eight-time champion Lyon, which lost the first leg 2-1.
Lyon will face either Bayern Munich or three-time champion Barcelona. They play on Sunday and are locked at 1-1 after the first leg in Germany, when Bayern goalscorer Franziska Kett was sent off for pulling the hair of an opponent.
The final will be in Oslo on May 23.
“It's a little bit emotional making it to the final. I’m so proud of the team, there were so many ebbs and flows in this game," Lyon midfielder Lindsey Heaps told broadcaster Disney Plus. "Keeping the discipline to put in a performance like that, and finish it, was so important.”
A frantic opening at Groupama Stadium saw a header from Heaps ruled out following a video review.
But VAR went Lyon's way midway through the first half when a penalty was awarded after defender Lotte Wubben-Moy fouled Dumornay from behind.
Renard scored the penalty on her second attempt.
Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar saved the first one but the kick was re-taken for encroachment in the area, and the 35-year-old Renard sent her the wrong way with her second effort.
Arsenal benefited from two defensive blunders to win the first leg 2-1 in London, but struggled from corners against Lyon.
A corner from the left led to Lyon's second goal in the 36th when Diani adroitly guided the ball in at the back post.
Lyon won its first title in 2011 — with Renard scoring in the final — and will play in a record-extending 12th Women’s Champions League final. No other club has reached more than six and Bayern is looking to reach its first.
Lyon president Michele Kang celebrated on the field afterward, hugging the players.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Lyonnes' Jule Brand celebrates after scoring her side's third goal during the Women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between OL Lyonnes and Arsenal, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Lyonnes' Wendie Renard, left, gets to the ball ahead of Arsenal's Stina Blackstenius, right, during the Women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between OL Lyonnes and Arsenal, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Lyonnes' Wendie Renard, center, celebrates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between OL Lyonnes and Arsenal, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Arsenal's Smilla Holmberg and Alessia Russo, left, drive the ball past Lyonnes' Selma Bacha, eon the ground, during the Women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between OL Lyonnes and Arsenal, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Lyonnes' Jule Brand, left, scores her side's third goal during the Women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between OL Lyonnes and Arsenal, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Lyonnes' Jule Brand celebrates after scoring her side's third goal during the Women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between OL Lyonnes and Arsenal, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
