Germany captain Michael Ballack will lead teammates as well as around 25,000 fans in paying their last respects tomorrow to goalkeeper Robert Enke, whose suicide has stunned the country.
The entire Germany squad will travel to Hanover for a memorial service at Enke’s home stadium.
The 32-year-old, who had been plagued by depression, flung himself under a train on Tuesday.
Ballack, Germany coach Joachim Loew and the rest of the squad will attend the emotional event at Hannover 96’s ground before Enke, who was set to travel to South Africa for next year’s World Cup, is buried at a private service.
Germany were to play Chile in a friendly today, but after consultation with senior players Ballack, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Per Mertesacker, the German Football Federation (DFB) called the game off.
The players said they were in no fit state to play an international after the death of their close friend.
“These are not ice-cold millionaires in the national team — they were Robert’s friends,” DFB general secretary Wolfgang Niersbach said.
“Straight away Michael Ballack told us that after this tragedy it would simply not be possible for him to go to the stadium and play football. The decision quickly became clear that we would not play the game,” he said
Ballack had known Enke since he was 13, while Bremen’s Mertesacker played with the goalkeeper for a year at Hanover.
“We are stunned, speechless and helpless,” said Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff, speaking on the players’ behalf.
“We thought about playing the game in Cologne as a farewell to Robert, but it was clear the game came too soon after this tragedy,” he said.
“The media will no doubt write whether it is right or not to call off the game, but they were not there [when the news broke],” he added before breaking down in tears. “All the players feel the same way I do.”
Bierhoff said the players have been stunned to learn of Enke’s closely-guarded illness from which he had suffered since 2003.
“Robert often spoke to our psychologist Hans-Dieter Hermann,” Bierhoff said. “But no-one, no-one had any reason to believe he was suffering from an illness. Robert always had a smile on his face, he radiated warmth.”
DFB boss Theo Zwanziger contacted the Chile team, who had already arrived in Leverkusen to prepare for today’s game, and the South Americans immediately agreed to cancel the match as a mark of respect.
The Chileans will now play Slovakia in a friendly on Tuesday.
RSS