German police are due to reveal more details today regarding the death of national team goalkeeper Robert Enke that left European football in shock last night.
Enke died in an incident at a railway level crossing earlier yesterday.
The 32-year-old was struck by a regional train travelling between Norddeich and Hanover at a railway crossing in Neustadt am Rubenberge and died at the scene, police have confirmed.
A press conference at 12.30pm is expected to answer questions regarding the circumstances of Enke’s death.
Enke leaves behind his wife, Teresa, and an eight-month-old daughter who the couple had adopted in May.
The Enkes lost their own daughter Lara in 2006 when she died of a rare heart condition at the age of just two.
On the field, Enke’s career had taken him from his local side Jena into the Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach before spells abroad with Benfica, Barcelona, Fenerbahce and Tenerife.
He returned to the Bundesliga, joining Hannover in 2004 and earning his first cap for Germany on March 28, 2007 after impressing year after year for his club.
He went on to make eight appearances for Germany and was regarded as the favourite to be their number one at the World Cup in South Africa next summer, but a mysterious bacterial infection forced him out of their World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan in September.
He only recently recovered from the illness and made his return for Hannover in their Bundesliga win over Cologne on October 31.
However, he was omitted from the Germany squad for their upcoming friendly matches against Chile on Saturday and the Ivory Coast next Wednesday.
Germany coach Joachim Low nevertheless insisted that Enke was one of the favourites to be his number one in South Africa, saying that the decision to leave him out of his squad was “not a decision against, but rather a decision for Robert”.
His national team colleagues learned the tragic news after training in Bonn today.
“We are all shocked,” said Germany’s general manager Oliver Bierhoff. “We are lost for words.”
The president of the German Football Association (DFB) Dr Theo Zwanziger added that he and the rest of the football community in Germany “are stunned and in mourning.”
“All our sympathy goes to the wife of Robert Enke and his family,” he added on the DFB’s website.
Enke’s death may force a postponement of Saturday’s game against Chile. Fans were flocking to Hannover’s Niedersachsen Stadion last night where they were laying flowers and lighting candles at the gates in memory of their captain who had dedicated himself to the club since joining in 2004.
PA