Ronald Reng’s tragic, yet compelling, insight into the life of Robert Enke, the German goalkeeper, was the recipient of the 2011 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.
In this harrowing tale, Reng documents the battle Enke faced with depression and demonstrates how even a sportsman at the peak of his career is not immune from the illness.
Reng works chronologically through Enke’s colourful footballing career, which saw him play for a string of Europe’s top clubs managed by the likes of Jupp Heyneckes and Jose Mourinho. Indeed, it was after his decision to leave Borussia Monchengladbach in his native Germany for Portuguese giants, Benfica, where we glimpse the earliest signs of Enke’s insecurities. In his lonely hotel room in Lisbon Reng writes: [Enke] buries his head in the pillow and weeps so despairingly that it sounds as if he’s going to choke on his tears.’ However, after weeks of frenetic deliberation, Enke begrudgingly elected to remain at Benfica and came to enjoy the happiest times of his career there, becoming team captain and snubbing an offer to join Manchester United.
Following this successful spell, Enke signed for footballing giants, Barcelona, in what ought to have been a dream move for the rising star. Instead Enke was made to feel unwelcome and unwanted by gruff manager Louis van Gaal and was overlooked in favour of rookie keeper, Victor Valdes. Enke finally made his Barca debut in a Copa del Rey fixture against minnows Novelda CF. In what Enke saw as a situation where he could only lose as Barca ‘would win 3-0 or 4-0 and no one would mention the goalkeeper or if it went wrong, he would get the blame’, Barcelona crashed out and the nervy Enke was publicly blamed and humiliated by team-mate Frank De Boer for his part in the acrimonious 3-2 defeat.
It was this game that sparked Enke’s first wave of depression and shortly afterwards he was loaned to Turkish side Fenerbahce. As he had experienced in Portugal, Enke felt a ‘mixture of fear, nerves and homesickness.’ He played just one match in Turkey, a 3-0 defeat to Istanbulspor where ‘coins, lighters and bottles’ were hurled at the German. Reng records how this plunged Enke into his lowest state of depression and he sought to end his career as he was ‘paralysed by fear.’ This led Enke to dissolve his contract at Fener and he returned to Barcelona an outlaw, his depression ‘getting worse every day.’
His wife, Teresa’s, pregnancy and a fresh start at Second Division club, Tenerife, where he was finally valued again enabled Enke to overcome his first state of depression. His daughter, Lara, was born with a serious heart defect and the severity of the situation meant that Enke had no time to focus on his mental state, as he was required to assist his wife and female daughter.
After impressing for Tenerife, Enke returned to his homeland with Hannover 96 and his outstanding performances saw him called up to the national side for the first time. However, tragedy soon struck when Lara died after a succession of heart operations and the Enke family was thrown into turmoil. In a role reversal, it was now Robert who was the rock in the family and he coped admirably and courageously with the loss.
Although Enke dealt bravely with his daughter’s death, his depression would come back to haunt him. With Enke now a serious contender to become the number one German goalkeeper, he found himself under the fierce scrutiny of the public eye. The burden of expectation weighed heavily on Enke and after suffering a freak hand injury ‘his view of the world narrowed again.’
Enke's second child – an adopted daughter called Leila – offered momentary joy, but he was struggling to overcome his second spell of depression. In a desperate attempt to conceal his illness from the public, Enke pulled out of Germany’s qualifiers citing an infection of the intestine.
At the height of his second depressive state, Enke played two matches for Hannover – primarily to end the growing speculation over his ‘mysterious illness.’ Remarkably for a man playing under the influence of heavy psychotropic drugs, Enke performed solidly, yet even this failed to mark a cause for celebration.
Two days after playing for Hannover against Hamburg SV, Enke took his own life by jumping in front of a train. While the headlines expressed shock and disbelief at the episode, Reng’s book shows how Enke faced a continual battle against the illness. Eventually, suicide appeared the only way to escape the torment of his depression.
Reng concludes by expressing hope that his book will enable sportsmen to more openly fight their demons, instead of hiding a supposed weakness. To prevent further tragedies such as this, one wholeheartedly agrees with Reng’s sentiment.
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