Robert Enke is dead

[Harvin87]

Spoiler :

Germany is in mourning following the shock death of top goalkeeper Robert Enke. All indications suggest that the national player took his own life.


Coach for the national squad, Joachim Loew has cancelled Wednesday's planned training session while police in the northern German city of Hanover investigate the death.



On Tuesday evening, they reported said 32-year-old Robert Enke had been killed "in a fatal accident" at a level crossing in the town of Neustadt am Ruebenberge. Stefan Wittke, head of the press office of the Hanover police said it appeared to be suicide.



Enke's car was found unlocked close to the railway tracks.



"It is a tragedy," Martin Kind, president of Enke's Bundesliga club Hanover 96, said. However, he did not give any reasons for the ace goalkeeper's sudden death.



"I do not know how and why it happened, but I do not think that it had anything to do with football," he added.



Kind was returning from a meeting of the German football association (DFB) when he received the shock phone call. "You expect many things, but not something like that,” he said.



A World Cup favorite



Enke's career started in his home town of Jena in eastern Germany. He moved to Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1996, but left Germany three years later for a series of posts around Europe.



Enke struggled to find his stride playing internationally in Spain, Portugal, and Turkey, but his career settled down and he found success in Hanover upon his return to the Bundesliga in 2004.



At the national level, Enke made his debut in 2007 and earned eight caps for the German team. His most recent engagement for the team was a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan in a World Cup qualifier in August. Although Enke was considered one of the front runners for the keeper position on the 2010 World Cup squad, he was forced to miss the last four games for Germany and several matches for Hanover due to a stomach virus.

After sitting out for two months, Enke returned to the pitch for Hanover on October 31 against Cologne. His last match in the Bundesliga came just two days before his death, a 2-2 draw against Hamburg.

While Enke seemed to have returned to form after his illness, he had not been selected for Germany's two friendly matches against Chile and the Ivory Coast on November 14 and November 18.



German national coach Joachim Loew had said it was too early for Enke to return to the squad after his illness. Nevertheless, Loew had indicated that Enke was still his favorite to be Germany's goalkeeper at the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.



The stomach virus, which caused Enke to miss key World Cup qualifying matches, was not the first personal hardship the goalkeeper faced in his lifetime. In 2006 he and his wife suffered a personal tragedy with the death of their then two-year-old daughter due to a heart illness.



Enke is survived by his wife and an eight-month-old daughter the couple adopted in May of this year.



German soccer mourns



The response from the German soccer community was a mixture of shock and sadness.



We are stunned and full of sadness," said Theo Zwanziger, head of the German Soccer Federation. "We send our deepest sympathies to his wife and family. Robert Enke was a wonderful person who had been dealt some tough cards."



FC Barcelona, one of Enke's former clubs, held a minute of silence for the German keeper ahead of their Spanish cup match against Cultural Leonesa on Tuesday night.



In Hanover, hundred of the team's fans gathered outside the club's front offices to light candles and lay flowers.



"He leaves behind a large hole in our lives, not only in Hanover, but for soccer in Germany," said the team's sports director Joerg Schmadtke.



Germany's national team manger, Oliver Bierhoff, spoke on behalf of the team who is gathered ahead of Saturday's match against Chile.



"We're all shocked," he said. "There are no words."

Truly shocking news... I feel sorry for him

R.I.P

 

[Echse]

I was shocked this morning when i heard it. My thoughts are now with his family and friends.
This is a sad day for every football fan.

 

[J-man]

Sad news. First that Belgian cyclist and now him.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Bad Mojo I agree. His daughter died of a heart defect and they adopted a kid, he didn't want to get treatment for his depression because he was afraid his adopted kid would get taken away from him.

Time to stop stigma against depression and mental illness.

Nasty way to go though a train. RIP.

 

[holy king]

sucks. goodbye, enke.

Nasty way to go though a train. RIP.

only for the train driver and those having to clean the mess up.
for yourself it's a pretty clean and sure way to go.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I take it you are not familiar with British trains then. They are slow, and may not even turn up.

 

[holy king]

he actually made sure it was a spot where the train goes full speed.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

So definitely not in England then.

 

[Quackers]

Oh well.

Looks like Kahn will come out of retirement and have a few more years

 

[Riffraff]

Interesting article here (in German though) about the ethics of reporting suicides in connection to this case http://www.meinpolitikblog.de/2009/11/11/der-freitod-eines-torwarts-und-die-ethik/

 

[holy king]

he killed himself because he couldnt stand the pressure in his job?

that's not interesting that's a mere construct used to have a cheap go at "the media".

 

[warpus]

Is this a blow to German World Cup aspirations next year?

It's obviously a tragedy, but I've never heard of this guy until this story broke, so I don't feel any additional sadness.

 

[Harvin87]

I don't think is a blow for German aspirations... Adler is a fine GK

 

[kronic]

Germany had four excellent goalkeepers...now there are only three left.