Enke Robert

Robert Enke was a German football goalkeeper. Enke most notably played for Benfica and Barcelona, but made the majority of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 in his homeland. He won eight full international caps for the German national team between the 1999 Confederations Cup and his death in 2009, and was part of the squad which finished as runners-up in Euro 2008. On the evening of 10 November 2009, Enke committed suicide. At the time of his death, he was widely considered to be a leading contender for the German number one spot at the 2010 World Cup.

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With the international retirement of previous number one Jens Lehmann at Euro 2008, Enke was poised to make the position his own and played in several World Cup 2010 qualifiers. However, in October 2008, he broke the scaphoid of his left hand while training with the national team for a qualifier against Russia. After undergoing surgery, he was sidelined for two months, and was replaced by René Adler. Upon his return in January 2009, he again became the number one keeper in the national team. In September and October 2009, Enke was again out of action for several weeks. The reason given to the Hannover 96 coaching was an intestinal infection campylobacter, although it is revealed in Ronald Reng’s book A Life Too Short: The Tragic Story of Robert Enke that this was only partly true and in fact Enke’s depression had returned. He did not return to football until late October, as a result of which he was not called up for a friendly against Chile for which the national team was preparing when he died. This game was subsequently called off as a mark of respect to Enke. Prior to his daeth, Enke was expected to be Germany’s number one goalkeeper at the 2010 World Cup, ahead of Manuel Neuer. Enke died having won eight full international caps. His final international appearance came on 12 August 2009 when he kept a clean sheet against Azerbaijan.