- Goalkeeper Christiane Endler won a Champions League title with Lyon on Saturday.
- Earlier that day, the Chilean star's mentor died after battling stomach cancer.
- After the game, Endler dedicated the victory to him, "the person who changed my life and my career."
Christiane Endler won a Champions League title on Saturday to become the first Chilean player in the tournament's history to hoist a trophy.
And yet, the historic occasion was rather bittersweet for Olympique Lyonnais' superstar goalkeeper.
After celebrating the remarkable feat with her teammates, Endler revealed that her mentor — the person who inspired her to take up goalkeeping in the first place — had died earlier on the day of the final.
Marco Cornez, a former pro-turned-goalkeeping coach known best for scoring from between the pipes, died at 63 years old after a battle with stomach cancer. Endler dedicated her side's 3-1 victory over Barcelona to him.
"Actually, I would love to refer to the person who changed my life and my career — my first goalkeeper coach [who] passed away today," Endler told a reporter after the match. "He made me become a goalkeeper, so I want to dedicate this for him: Marco Cornez."
Cornez was a goalkeeper himself in his younger years, competing for several professional clubs and the Chilean national team in the 1980s and 1990s. He later became a coach, and when he came across a 16-year-old Endler — who had been called up to the Chilean National Team as a forward, per Chilean publication La Tercera — he knew she had the makings of a world-class netminder.
He was right; just this year, Endler was named The Best FIFA Goalkeeper. And after back-to-back seasons named to the UEFA Women's Champions League Squad of the Season — and a sensational 2022 tournament, featuring 14 saves and four clean sheets — she finally broke through to win a title.
Endler was thinking of her late mentor through it all.
"I know that he's very proud," she said.
Check out her post-match interview below:
—DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) May 22, 2022