Thousands pay moving tribute to Enke

Tens of thousands of fans joined family, friends and team-mates of Robert Enke to pay their last respects to the Germany goalkeeper yesterday, five days after his suicide shocked the country and football fans worldwide.

At a memorial service at the Hanover 96 ground where Enke played his club football, 45,000 people, including Germany team-mates and coaches dressed in black, watched as Enke's coffin was placed in the middle of the pitch.

"Robert Enke will never come back to this stadium where he conquered our hearts," Hanover president Martin Kind said in a brief speech. "You were a number one in the real sense of the word. This is why our hearts are so heavy."

Enke took his own life at the age of 32, throwing himself in front of a train on Tuesday after battling depression for years.

Fans in Germany and across the world were deeply touched by his death, which came three years after his own daughter had died, aged two, because of a heart problem.

His wife Teresa cried as she stood in front of a coffin that had been covered in white flowers, with a string quartet adding to the sombre mood on a crisp and sunny day. The pair had adopted a baby girl in May.

Thousands more stood in silence outside the stadium as candles and flowers covered the entrance to the club offices. As the coffin was driven away, the anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was sung amid roaring applause.

"Football is not everything," German Football Association chief Theo Zwanziger told the crowd yesterday. "Football must not be everything."

A minute's silence has been observed in several matches in the past days including Barcelona's Spanish Cup tie, and the European Under-21 qualifier between England and Portugal on Saturday, impeccably observed by about 35,000 fans.

Germany cancelled a friendly match they had been due to play against Chile on Saturday.

Barcelona representatives, among officials from other clubs, were also in the Hanover Arena yesterday as were politicians, including former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Enke will be laid to rest next to his daughter's grave at a cemetery near Hanover.

Germany's top players including Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger have requested the German Football Federation (DFB) hold a memorial game for Enke.