Goalkeeper commits suicide

[WillieW]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aRa5ey5cvZhQ

Germany Goalkeeper Robert Enke Commits Suicide at 32 (Update3)
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Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Enke, a goalkeeper on Germany’s national soccer team, committed suicide by stepping in front of a train in Hanover, police said.

Enke, 32, was hit at a crossing in Neustadt Eilvese yesterday, his club Hannover 96 said. His black Mercedes sports utility vehicle was parked nearby, the police said. Enke suffered from bouts of depression, his doctor Valentin Markser told a news conference today.

The player had trained with the club in the morning before missing an afternoon session, his adviser Joerg Neblung was quoted as saying. Enke left a letter in which he apologized to his family, Markser said.

“Robert Enke is leaving a big gap behind, for Hannover as well as for the soccer community in Germany,” Hannover 96 manager Joerk Schmadtke, told a televised news conference. “It’s a tragedy, I don’t know what to say.”

The domestic league goalkeeper of the year last season, Enke was a leading candidate to be Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper at next year’s World Cup, Deutsche Presse Agentur reported, citing coach Joachim Loew.

He had only recently returned after a stomach infection and wasn’t selected for exhibition games against Chile and the Ivory Coast on Nov. 14 and Nov. 18. The Chile game was canceled, along with a practice scheduled for today.

“We need time to really digest all this, and not just superficially deal with it,” German Football Federation President Theo Zwanziger said at a televised news conference.

Daughter’s Death

Enke’s two-year-old daughter died in 2006 from a heart defect and he and his wife Teresa adopted an eight-month-old girl in May this year, Der Spiegel reported. His wife, dressed in black, appeared at a news conference with Markser, his doctor, in Hanover today.

“I thought that the death of our daughter Lara would bind us together in a way that we’d be able to get over anything,” his wife said. “But ultimately we didn’t manage.”

In 2003, Enke suffered from fear of failure as a second- choice goalkeeper for Barcelona, Markser said. He was loaned to Turkey’s Fenerbahce and second-tier Tenerife before joining Hannover 96 the following season.

Enke’s stomach infection stopped him from training, renewing his depression, Markser said. His wife said she tried to tell him that “football isn’t everything.”

Dozens of fans left flowers and lit candles where Enke died and at Hannover 96’s stadium. The team cleared its Web site, leaving the words “We are mourning Robert Enke, 24 August 1977 - - 10 November 2009” on a black background.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote to Enke’s family to express her condolences, government spokesman Christoph Steegmans told reporters in Berlin.

Last Updated: November 11, 2009 08:46 EST