On 10 November 2009, after years of battling with depression, German goalkeeper Robert Enke committed suicide. He was 32 years old.Enke started his professional career in 1995 with his hometown club, Carl Zeiss Jena, and later spent time with Borussia Mönchengladbach (1996-99), Benfica (1999-2002), and Barcelona (2002-04, including loan spells with Fenerbahçe and Tenerife), before joining Hannover 96 in 2004.
He made his first appearance for the German national team in 1997, but spent most of his international career behind Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann. When Lehmann retired in 2008, Enke became Germany's starting keeper, but was sidelined by injuries, including a bacterial infection that forced him to miss matches in September and October 2009. Nevertheless, before his death that November, he was the leading candidate to start for Germany in the 2010 World Cup.
Enke killed himself by standing in front of a train on a ground level crossing. He left a note, though the contents have never been disclosed publicly. Afterward, it was revealed that he had suffered from depression for many years, prompted in part by the death of his 2-year old daughter in 2006. He was survived by his wife Teresa and adopted daughter Leila.
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