Germany goalkeeper commits suicide

HAMBURG: Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke has died, the president of his Bundesliga club Hanover 96 announced Tuesday.

Enke's advisor Joerg Neblung confirmed Tuesday night to DPA that Enke, who died early Tuesday evening after being hit by a train at a railway crossing near his home, had committed suicide.

"It was suicide, but I do not want to say anything else at this stage," Neblung said.

Hanover 96 president Martin Kind described the death of the 32-year-old as a tragedy. "You expect many things, but not something like that. I do not know how and why it happened, but I do not think that it had anything to do with football," he said.

"He was unstable, but he did not show that to the outside world and he managed to mask it."

Kind was returning from a meeting of the German football league (DFL) Tuesday when he received the shocking phone call.

Germany coach Joachim Loew and manager Oliver Bierhoff informed the German players of Enke's death at their training camp in Bonn, where they are preparing for two friendly internationals against Chile and Ivory Coast Saturday and Nov 18.

Enke, who had become Germany's number one goalkeeper after Jens Lehmann retired at the end of last year's Euro championships, had to miss Germany's last four internationals with a bacterial bowel infection, but had just returned to the game and had played in Hanover's 2-2 draw against SV Hamburg on the weekend.

He had not been selected for the games against Chile and Ivory Coast, but Loew had indicated that Enke was still one of the favourites to be Germany's first choice goalkeeper at the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Bierhoff said the players were shocked: "I am lost for words." The president of the German football federation, Theo Zwanziger, said the entire football community was "deeply distressed and full of mourning".

It was not immediately known if Germany's international matches would go ahead as planned.

Enke played his first game for Germany March 28, 2007 during their 1-0 defeat against Denmark. It was to be his only defeat in the national dress as the team won five and drew two of the seven subsequent matches in which he played.

He last played for his country Aug 12 in the 2-0 victory against Azerbaijan.

Enke was first called into the Germany squad for the 1999 Confederations Cup, but was not fielded in a match by then coach Erich Ribbeck.

He was next nominated by Loew seven years later, sitting on the bench in Germany's 2-0 victory against Georgia.

Enke's two-year-old daughter Lara died two years ago from a heart defect. He leaves his wife and an eight-month-old daughter whom the couple adopted earlier this year.