For a girl with leukemia, a player returned to his football club. And he already scored!

Eren Dinkçi helped "Werder" defeat "Leipzig" — the Bremen team unexpectedly won with a score of 3:1, and Dinkçi opened the scoring already in the fourth minute, writes Sports.ru.

But the most beautiful thing in this story is not the underdog's victory over a Champions League participant.

Eren dedicated the goal to his girlfriend Cinja: she has been battling leukemia since the beginning of 2026.

Dinkçi moved to "Werder" precisely for her sake: the girl wanted to return to her hometown of Bremen to better cope with the illness.

"Her comfort is a priority." Eren moved to "Werder" for his girlfriend

In the previous match, "Werder" suffered a crushing defeat to "Freiburg" — 1:4, a team Dinkçi previously played for. There was little hope for the match against "Leipzig," but Eren scored already in the fourth minute and inspired the whole team. He celebrated the goal with his signature heart gesture: this is his favorite celebration, which he dedicated to his beloved Cinja.

Eren ended up at "Werder" precisely because of her. Cinja is from Bremen and wanted to move back to her hometown from Freiburg in the summer to make her treatment easier.

Before this, Dinkçi's career was in an uncertain state: he wasn't particularly needed at "Freiburg," and the team's attack was fully staffed. But without Cinja's consent, Eren wouldn't have moved anywhere.

In an interview with Kicker, he said: "I'm here, I have a contract, and my girlfriend is undergoing treatment at a clinic in Freiburg. We'll see what happens next. Given the circumstances, she feels relatively well. There are setbacks and improvements. She continues to cope excellently with everything, and we maintain a positive attitude. In this situation, nothing else helps. Priority number one is for her to be well."

As a result, Cinja's wish helped Eren steer his career in the right direction: as it turned out, their interests completely coincided.

Dinkçi collects donor registrations — with the help of the largest organization fighting blood cancer

Cinja was diagnosed at the end of January — at that time, Eren was on loan at "Heidenheim": "From that moment, everything abruptly stops and at the same time, a journey begins that was previously difficult to imagine."

Cinja shared about her struggle on social media. One of the fragments that went viral was a video where Eren shaves his girlfriend's head. In the face of adversity, they only grew stronger together.

Павялічыць

Others also helped them cope. The main assistance was provided by DKMS — the largest international organization fighting blood cancer, based in Germany.

In cooperation with DKMS, "Freiburg" and "Heidenheim" organized a collection of stem cell donor registrations for Cinja before their match in the spring of 2026. In some cases, only this can save a leukemia patient, as Eren explained:

"Suddenly, only one thing became important: hope. It quickly became clear that a stem cell transplant might be needed, just like for many other patients. In the clinic, we meet people every day with their unique stories, hopes, and difficulties. All of them are waiting for their only chance."

Dinkçi is a "Werder" academy graduate. For him, this is a chance to restart his career

Eren is 24 years old, he is a Bremen academy graduate: for him, this is also a return to his hometown.

Павялічыць

But Eren didn't succeed at "Werder" — he only thrived at "Heidenheim." He first went there on loan for the 2023/24 season when he was 21 years old. And immediately scored 10+4 in 33 matches.

After that, Dinkçi moved to "Freiburg," but Eren didn't succeed there at all. In the 2024/25 season, he only provided three assists, and in the first half of last season, he had 0+0. He tried to revive his career again at "Heidenheim" — there he scored 3+1 in 14 rounds.

And now Dinkçi is back at "Werder." Perhaps he can start everything anew here. The start is good.

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