| 10.11.2009 |
|
||||||||
| Robert Enke, Hanover 96's splendid goalkeeper who was in contention to be Germany's number one at the coming world cup, is dead at 32. He was run over by a train at a rail crossing near Hanover this Tuesday evening, and because of that circumstance police suspect he committed suicide. It's a tragedy in any case, and one that will surely generate a lot of digging into Enke's psyche. Not too sure where that will lead. He was hardly a big media personality, and it's a fool's game anyway, to assume we can know the private people behind even the most loquacious public personalities. My only clear impression of Enke came from reading one particular long interview - one that actually made me like him very much. He came off as a thoughtful man who enjoyed the game that was at the center of his life, but wasn't consumed by it. A particularly affable moment came when he told the interviewer of having shared his house for a while with the famous painter from whom he'd bought it, and who hadn't been quite ready to leave. When asked if his career as a footballer was a "dream come true," he answered "No, it's just my life. I'm no dreamer. There's a lot I have to do, and a lot I can't do. On a normal training day I work less than other people, but I'm busy on the weekends and can't spend time with my wife." It's probably good Enke tried to keep himself balanced, considering how tough things went for him at times in his career. The Jena native started his career strongly, moving to Gladbach and Benfica before securing a dream move to Barcelona in 2002, but got stuck on the bench his one year there. He then spent a rocky subsequent season bouncing from Turkey back to the Spanish second division before finding a new home at Hanover. In his Germany career, Enke was first overshadowed by Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann, and then seemed to get injured at all the wrong times, missing key national team dates. But all these sporting setbacks pale in comparison to the tragedy he and his wife suffered three years ago, when their two-year-old daughter Lara died of a heart defect. That Enke came back and put his own heart into football after that was amazing enough for one career. A great career it was, really - Enke was an outrageously gifted shot-stopper, and one who played for a team that gave him plenty of chances to show his stuff. I only saw him twice in person. The first was a 4-0 loss at Hertha where he wasn't given much chance, but the second was vintage Enke: a 0-0 home draw to Hamburg that may well have been another 4-0 loss were it not for him. (For a taste of his efforts in that match, see the first part of this video, especially the 0:42 mark in which he stops three shots from three different players at three different angles in FOUR SECONDS. Amazing stuff.) Rest in peace, Robert. I hope you've found it. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| 1 Comment |
| this is really shoking!!! | ||
| VaVa | Homepage | E-Mail | 10.11.2009, 23:17 | ||