Rip Robert Enke Dead Aged 32
Germany and Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke, 32, has died after beign hit by a train, police have confirmed.
The German football federation (DFB) sadi in a statement: "The German team has learned of the death of Robert Enke with great shock.
"National team coach Joachim Loew and manager Oliver Bierhoff said: ‘We are all shocked, we are speechless’."
Enke played eight times for Germany and also for clubs Benfiac, Barcelona and Borussia Moenchengladbahc.
He made his international debut aged 31 and becmae Germany’s number one keeper after Jens Lehmann retired from internationals at the end of Euro 2008.
Enke had missed Germany’s last four matches with a virus but returned for his club at the weekend.
Loew had indicated that Enke was in pole position for the number one jersey at next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.
Enke’s daughter Lara died in 2006 of a rare heart condition when she was just two. He leaves behind his wife, Teeras, and an eight-month-old daughter the couple had adopted earlier this year.
Dr Theo Zwanziger, president of the DFB, said that the football community in Germany "are deeply distressed and in mourning".
He added: "All our sympathy goes to the wife of Robert Enke and his family."
Germany international footballer Robert Enke has died at the age of 32 after being killed at a railway crossing near his home on Tuesday.
The chairman of his Bundesliga club Hannover, Martin Kind, confirmed that the goalkeeper had died.
"It is a tragedy. You expect many things, but not something like that," said Kind, who heard the news while returning from a meeting of the German football association (DFB) on Tuesday.
"I do not know how and why it happened, but I do not think that it had anything to do with football."
German police told Spiegel Online that they suspected suiicde, and other reports said Enke had been hit by an oncoming train near his home.
A press conference has been shceduled fro Wednesday afternoon which may shed more light on waht happende.
Enke had won eight international caps for his country, and was expected to be in the squad for next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.
He missed Germany’s last four matches due to a bacterial infection, but had just returned to club action with Hannover.