Reuters Soccer Blog

Neuer edging ahead in German goalkeeping race

Germany have not had it easy when it comes to picking a starting goalkeeper for this year’s World Cup.

Robert Enke, who was first choice going into the last three World Cup qualifiers, committed suicide in November and it is still unclear who will stake a claim to being the long-term successor to Jens Lehmann.

Following Enke’s death, Schalke’s Manuel Neuer, Bayer Leverkusen’s Rene Adler and Tim Wiese from Werder Bremen have been in contention for the spot.

Loew recently crowned Adler as the man to beat but the keeper failed to repay the coach’s trust with an error-ridden performance in Germany’s 1-0 loss to Argentina earlier this month. Then came two consecutive Bundesliga matches where Adler, 25, was directly responsible for letting in goals. Suddenly his starting spot looks far from certain.

At 23, Neuer has had an outstanding season so far, helping drive Schalke 04 into title contention and often being the best man on the pitch.

Wiese has been less efficient in a mediocre season with Bremen and still looks the outsider in the race.

Any decision will be taken with the future in mind and there, it could well be that the younger Neuer has the edge, despite his lack of international experience. He may only have two caps but so does 28-year-old Wiese while Adler has only nine.

Football mourns loss of a great talent and a modest man

Robert Enke had none of the extrovert qualities associated with the great goalkeepers in German football folklore, larger than life figures such as Sepp Maier and Oliver Kahn.

He didn’t quite reach the same levels of achievement on the field either but this modest man will certainly be remembered as a great talent.

Enke, who has committed suicide at the age of 32, was the best of an outstanding crop of German keepers and would likely have been chosen to keep goal at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Maybe there he would have fulfilled his exceptional potential.

That he had even made it into the Germany squad was testament to his character and professionalism.

Enke had to struggle to get his career back on track after a disappointing spell at Barcelona in the 1990s. Barca snapped him up on a free transfer after an excellent three years at Benfica but he was never able to make an impact at the Nou Camp, with his time there effectively cut short by a single poor performance in a Cup game.

He moved on loan to Fenerbahce and dropped down to the Spanish second division with Tenerife before he fought his way back into the top flight in 2004, back in Germany with Hanover. He eventually won the first of his eight German caps in 2007, eight years after being called up to the squad for the first time. It was a promotion that was long overdue in the eyes of most fans and players.

Final tragedy for Robert Enke

Germany and Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke has died after being hit by a train in an apparent suicide, local police said on Tuesday.

“First indications point to suicide,” a media officer for the Niedersachsen police told Reuters before adding that Enke’s body was found at a train crossing some 25-km northeast of Hanover.

The German soccer federation (DFB) said in a statement: “The German team has learned of the death of Robert Enke with great shock.”

His two-year-old daughter died of a heart ailment in 2006.

PHOTO: Germany’s goalkeeper Robert Enke gestures during his team’s World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match against Liechtenstein in Vaduz September 6, 2008. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann