ROBERT ENKE
Today, the football world mourns the tragic death of German international goalkeeper Robert Enke. Germany and Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke passed away on the evening of 10th November. He has died after being hit by a train at a level crossing and suspected that it could be a suicide.
BIOGRAPHY
Robert Enke was born on 24th August, 1977 in Jena, East Germany. He started his football career with his hometown club ‘Carl Zeiss Jena’ in 1995 and his first match was against his future club ‘Hannover 96′. In 1996, he moved to another German football club ‘Borussia Monchengladbach’. He helped this club to win over the club ‘Schalke 04′ and the club was reached in top position. In 1999, he was signed by ‘Benfica’ of Portugal, and he became the captain of this club. Enke’s performances in this club gained attraction of many clubs like ‘Arsenal’, ‘Atletico Madrid’ and ‘Manchester United’ and these clubs chased him. Enke accepted the offer of Spanish giants ‘Barcelona’ and moved on a free transfer in 2002. After that,he played for the clubs ‘Fenerbahce’ and ‘Tenerife’ on loan base. In 2004, he joined the club ‘Hannover 96′. He made a great success in this club, and he was selected as the best goalkeeper in the league by his fellow professionals for two times. He played 180 times for Hannover 96 and his last appearance was in 8th November 2009. He made his international debut for Germany in 2007 against Denmark. Then he was selected for ‘Euro 2008′ squad in which Germany finished as runners-up. In October 2008, he broke the scaphoid of his left hand and undergoes a surgery. So he was not able to play for two months. He returned in January 2009 and became the number one keeper in the national team. He again stopped his game because of an infection with campylobacter. His last international game was a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan on 12th August, 2009. He won eight full international caps for the German national team. 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. Enke and his wife lost their 2-year-old daughter to a heart ailment in 2006. Then the couple adopted a girl who is now eight months old.