Spokesmen for Hanover 96, DFB (the German Federation), and local police have confirmed that Hanover 96 and German National Team 'keeper Robert Enke died after being struck by a train today in an apparent suicide.
Over the course of his career, Enke played for a number of large European clubs, including Barcelona (Spain), Benfica (Portugal), and Fenerbahce (Turkey), as well as German clubs Borussia Moenchengladbach and Jena. Though he had collected only 8 caps with the German National Team, Enke was considered the front-runner for the starting job at this summer's World Cup in South Africa, with coach Joachim Loew leaning towards him over Rene Adler. His last cap was a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan on August 12th. 
Enke was passed over by Loew for the German squad set to play friendies against Chile and Ivory Coast over the next week after missing nearly two months (and the final 4 World Cup qualifiers) battling a bacterial bowel infection. He only returned to action this weekend, making the final of his 196 Bundesliga appearances. With his contract at Hanover due to expire at the end of the season, it was widely expected that Enke would move to Hamburg after the World Cup to continue his club career.
In 2006, Enke's 2-year-old daughter died of a heart defect...Enke and his wife adopted a 2-month-old girl this past May.
Robert Enke was 32.
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Playoffs to determine the remaining teams who will travel to South Africa begin Saturday! Be sure to check back to SoccerJunkie next week for all the latest results and analysis.
On a related note---Portugal will face an uphill battle against Bosnia after losing star midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo for both playoff legs. Ronaldo is continuing to recover from an ankle injury he picked up in late September, then aggravated a mere week later playing for Portugal against Hungary.
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The playoff dates bring with them an international break. England will face Brasil in Doha, Qatar on Saturday at the (relatively new) Khalifa Stadium...
England will be without David Beckham (who will be suiting up for the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference Final) and Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson, who are both out through injury.----------------------------------------------------
The US will travel through Europe this week, playing at fellow World Cup finalists Slovakia on Saturday...before heading for a midweek (11/18) match at Denmark, who are also South Africa-bound. Bob Bradley's roster for the matches:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Aston Villa (England); Marcus Hahnemann, Wolverhampton (England); Troy Perkins, Valerenga (Norway)
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Rennes (France); Jonathan Bornstein, Chivas USA; Steve Cherundolo, Hanover 96 (Germany); Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Wizards; Clarence Goodson, IK Start (Norway); Frankie Hejduk, Columbus Crew; Chad Marshall, Columbus Crew; Heath Pearce, FC Dallas; Jonathan Spector, West Ham (England)
Midfielders: Michael Bradley, Borussia Moenchengladbach (Germany); Clint Dempsey, Fulham (England); Benny Feilhaber, Aarhus (Denmark); Sacha Kljestan, Chivas USA; Dax McCarty, FC Dallas; Robbie Rogers, Columbus Crew
Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Hull (England); Conor Casey, Colorado Rapids; Jeff Cunningham, FC Dallas; Eddie Johnson, Cardiff City (England)
Missing from the US roster...
Tim Howard: Likely left off by Bob Bradley simply to allow him a break. No question that he is the #1 'keeper for the US...but with Everton's involvement in European ball the past 2 years (plus the Confederations Cup and all the qualifiers), you need to make sure he doesn't get burnt out. Howard had a matter of just a few weeks off after the Confederations Cup and is playing every week---sometimes multiple games each week.
Landon Donovan: A reserve captain and the all-time leading scorer for the Yanks, Donovan will be playing for the LA Galaxy as they go after the MLS Cup.
Brian Ching: If only playoff goals were eligible for MLS Goal of the Year... Ching's strike against Seattle last weekend was a thing of true beauty (check it out here: http://web.mlsnet.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7126411 )... that strike could prove to be a double-edged sword for Ching: while he's likely to be in the 23-man team that goes to South Africa, that goal could've been everything he needed to get another look from Bradley in these friendlies with an eye on a spot in the starting 11...unfortunately, that goal means Houston is in the Western Conference Final and Ching will be there instead of with the Yanks in Europe next week. (on a quick related note...how about Pat Onstad?!?! the only thing better than Ching's goal was the full body of work from Onstad in this one...check it out: http://web.mlsnet.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7126471 )
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The MLS Save of the Year nominees are out...and while Danny Cepero has two fantastical saves up for vote (save 1: http://web.mlsnet.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7114291 and save 2: http://web.mlsnet.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7077277 ), SoccerJunkie's vote goes to the ageless Pat Onstad. Find me another 40-something-year-old who can make this save...
You can see the rest of the nominees and vote for your pick here:
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Money may be able to buy you really nice clothes, really good food...some would argue money can even buy you love...but, as Real Madrid has discovered, money can't buy you a King's Cup...
That's right, mighty Real Madrid are out of their domestic cup (which in Spain is the King's Cup) in the Round-of-32, falling 4-1 on aggregate to Alcorcon. Yes, you read that right, Alcorcon. Haven't heard of Alcorcon??? Well, neither had SoccerJunkie until they stunned Real 4-0 in the 1st leg. Alcorcon is a Segunda B side---that's the THIRD tier of Spanish futbol (behind Real's La Liga and Segunda A)... Their budget? Only about $1.5 million...or about FOUR HUNDRED times smaller than that of Real. To give a little more comparison, the MLS salary cap this year was just over $2 million.
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