Six years ago, Robert Enke settled accounts with life after a protracted depression. The death of the goalkeeper of the German national team is still a lesson for all people who are in the football field. In this article, you will be presented with his brief biography.
Childhood
Robert Encke was born in Jena (Germany) in 1977. The love of sport was instilled in the boy from childhood. Father Dirk was involved in athletics (now he is a psychotherapist), and his mother Gisel was a handball player.
Robert was identified in the Carl Zeiss football section. At first the boy played in the attack, but soon he was put on the gate for long arms and high growth. In Germany, he went through quite a lot of children, and then youth teams. Coaches considered Enke a promising, calm and reliable goalkeeper. The young man has repeatedly become the best athlete of the month.
Unsuccessful debut
In 1996, Robert Enke, whose biography is known to all football fans, was invited to Borussia. For a couple of years he managed to oust Uwe Kamps from the main staff. But the athlete's debut season was unsuccessful. In 32 matches, Robert conceded 71 goals. The anger of the fans was so great that Enke was forced to move to Portugal and play for Benfica.
First success
Portuguese goalkeeper career stage can be called successful. Robert Enke himself spent 3 seasons in Benfica, having played 77 matches. In the 1999-2000 season, his team won bronze medals in the championship. But, unfortunately, the club started having financial problems, so the goalkeeper had to become a free agent.
The contract with Barcelona
In 2002, Robert Enke signed a contract with Barcelona. But during the season, the goalkeeper spent only four games, being only the third reserve goalkeeper of the team. The club management decided to send Robert for rent to the Turkish club Fenerbahçe. Enke spent only one game there, having conceded three goals. The goalkeeper had to flee the field, as fans threw various objects at him. After that, he was again sent to rent in the Spanish Tenerife. There the goalkeeper has already played nine matches.
Return to the Bundesliga
In 2004, Robert Enke, whose cause of death will be listed below, returned to the Bundesliga and became the goalkeeper of Hanover. And three years later, the coach of the German national team Joachim Loew invited him to his team. In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Enke was the main goalkeeper.
Suicide
November 10, 2009 Robert Enke threw himself under the express, the speed of which was 160 km / h. He did it as desperately as a thousand times jumping under the feet of the opponent's scorers. Robert was a representative of the old goalkeeper school. And there it was customary to think about yourself last. That is what Robert Enke always did. The goalkeeper's death note was voiced by the attending physician of the German national team. Valentine Marxer told the press that the goalkeeper apologized to the doctors and family for misleading them about their own psychological state. Robert deliberately imitated an improvement so that no one would guess about his suicidal plans.
Causes of suicide
The widow of the athlete Teresa and Marxer told the press about Enke's many years of depression. Robert first visited a doctor in 2003 when he lost his goalkeeper position in Barcelona. And in the last months of his life, the athlete was afraid that if they find out about his illness, they will be deprived of the right to raise an adopted daughter Leila.
Previously, the goalkeeper was already experiencing the loss of a child. Football fans know that Robert Enke and his daughter Lara often went on the field after the match. Photos of the goalkeeper with the baby in her arms were often published in sports publications. In 2006, Lara died of heart disease. As we now know, Robert was very upset by this moment.
Fear of losing a second child exacerbated goalkeeper depression. Her peak caught the athlete in Barcelona. Only the spouse and agent knew about the true condition of Robert. A few months before the suicide, the goalkeeper had a great time with his wife in Portugal and after finishing his career he wanted to move to Lisbon. But with the start of the season, Robert had doubts and a daily fear of losing his place in the team and in the club.
Last days
All the media were sure that Enke was injured, and only his family and close friends knew about his real illness. And most of those around him thought that Robert received a lot of money and leads a carefree life of celebrity. This made the goalkeeper keep the truth about his condition a secret. He did not even resort to professional help, fearing information leakage to the press. As a result, a few days before death, when the goalkeeper pretended to be a happy person, relatives decided that everything bad was behind. No one knew about the true intentions of Robert. He looked completely normal. But, unfortunately, not because he got out of depression. He found a way to eliminate the disease, devouring it from the inside. Death was the only way Robert Encke saw. The goalkeeper’s funeral was attended by 40, 000 people, which made them the largest in the history of German sports.
