Robert Enke, the Hannover and Germany goalkeeper, killed himself by apparently throwing himself before a train on Tuesday. He was 32.

"It was suicide," Enke's agent Joerg Neblung said. "I don't want to talk about the possible reasons today."

Police said Enke died after being hit by a train at a level crossing northwest of Hannover, not far from his home. Enke's car was found near the scene.

After Hannover president Martin Kind confirmed Enke's death, German police released a statement saying he was fatally injured after being hit by a train.

"The first police indications are that it was a suicide," the statement said.

Kind said Enke had been "unstable" recently, but that it had not been publicly noticed.

"You expect many things, but not something like that," he said. "I do not know how and why it happened, but I do not think that it had anything to do with football."

Enke had been diagnosed with a bacterial stomach ailment and missed nine weeks before returning 11 days ago and playing two Bundesliga games.

He had not been selected for Germany's friendlies against Chile on Saturday and Ivory Coast next week. But coach Joachim Loew had said Enke remained the leading candidate to be Germany's goalkeeper at next year's World Cup in South Africa.

"We are all shocked," said Germany manager Oliver Bierhoff in Bonn, where the national team assembled.

Enke played eight matches for Germany. He made his debut in March 2007 in a 1-0 loss to Denmark. His last game was on Aug. 12 in a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan. He had played 196 Bundesliga games.

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