Fabian Frei

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Fabian Frei

Fabian Frei (June 2011)
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-01-08) 8 January 1989
Place of birthFrauenfeld, Switzerland
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionRight midfielder
Club information
Current clubBasel
Number20
Youth career
1998–2000Frauenfeld
2000–2004Winterthur
2004–2006FC Basel
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2005–2007FC Basel II31(11)
2007–2009FC Basel49(2)
2009–2011→ St. Gallen (loan)64(13)
2011–FC Basel77(10)
National team‡
2004–2005Switzerland U1611(4)
2005–2006Switzerland U1714(10)
2006–2007Switzerland U185(2)
2007–2008Switzerland U197(5)
2008Switzerland U203(0)
2008–2011Switzerland U2118(4)
2011–Switzerland4(0)
2012Switzerland Olympic4(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24:00, 2 February 2014 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 24:00, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Fabian Frei (born 8 January 1989 in Frauenfeld) is a Swiss footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League, after a two year loan at FC St. Gallen. Until June 2011 he was player in the Swiss U-21 team. He gave his international debut for Swiss senior team on 7 October 2011. He was selected to represent Switzerland at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is of no relation to former club and country team mate Alexander Frei.[1]

Football career

Club career

Frei started his youth football by FC Frauenfeld and FC Winterthur, but he came through the ranks at FC Basel. With Basel he was Swiss Champion at both U-16 and U-18 levels. During the 2006–07 season, Frei played in the U-21 team, he played so well that he was given a professional contract.[2] Because he was one of the best midfielders in the U-21 side, ahead of the 2007–08 season Frei was called into the first team squad.[3]

Frei played his first team debut on 22 July 2007 in the 1–0 home win against FC Zürich. He played a major part in Basel's title and cup win in the 2007–08 season. He scored his first goal for the club on 4 December 2008 during Basel's 3–1 win over FC Aarau in the St. Jakob-Park Stadium. Frei played his first Europa League game, as substitute, on Thursday, 16 August 2007 in the Qualifier against SV Mattersburg. He played his UEFA Champions League debut for Basel on 26 November 2008 in the 5–0 away defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk.[4]

In July 2009, due to the fact that Basel strengthened their squad for the beginning of the 2009–10 Swiss Super League season, Basel's new trainer Thorsten Fink loaned Fabian Frei to FC St. Gallen. During his two year loan in St. Gallen he played 64 league games in which he scored 13 goals.

For the start of the 2011–12 Swiss Super League season he was recalled to Basel, the reigning Swiss Champions, and he immediately won his place in the starting eleven. Frei scored his first Champions League goal for Basel on 14 September 2011 in the Group C 2–1 home win against Oțelul Galați,[5] his second on 27 September in the 3–3 draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United[6] and his third on 22 November in the Arena Națională, in Bucharest, as Basel won the away game against Oțelul Galați 3–2.[7] At the end of the 2011–12 season, Frei won the Double, the League Championship title[8] and the Swiss Cup [9] with Basel.

At the end of the Swiss Super League seaon 2012–13 Frei won the Championship title[10] and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.[11] In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced as far as the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but they were knocked out, losing both home and away tie, beaten 2–5 on aggregate.[12]

International career

Frei represented Switzerland at various age levels. He played his Swiss Under-16s debut on 12 October 2004 in the 3–1 away win against the Belgium Under-16s. In 14 games for the Switzerland U-17 team he scored ten goals.

Between 2008 and 2011 Fabian Frei played 18 games for the Switzerland U-21 team. His Under-21s debut was on 19 November 2008 in the 1–1 away draw against the Greece Under-21 team. His last game was the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final on 25 June 2011.

Following this he was called into the Swiss national football team by trainer Ottmar Hitzfeld. Frei gave his international debut for Switzerland on 7 October 2011 in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying game in the Liberty Stadium against Wales.

Frei was selected to represent Switzerland in the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the Swiss under-23 team.[13] He played over 90 minutes in all three games in the tournament, but the team were knocked out, finishing in fourth position of their Group.

Titles and Honours

Club

Basel

International

Individual

Basel
  • Goal of the Year 2008–09: scored on 5 December 2008 against FC Aarau

References

  1. ↑ "Fabian and Alexander Frei Unrelated". Socqer.com. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Fabian Frei: Profivertrag bis 2009" (in German). FC Basel 1893. 24 November 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  3. ↑ Weber, Dominik (25 June 2007). "FCB-Transfers im Sommer 2007" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Vereinsspiele" (in German). weltfussball.ch. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  5. ↑ Rogers, Steven (14 September 2011). "Freis double up as Basel beat Oţelul". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  6. ↑ Hart, Simon (27 September 2010). "United strike late to deny Basel famous win". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  7. ↑ Haylett, Trevor (22 November 2011). "Basel hang on to set up United showdown". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  8. ↑ Meister, Remo (29 April 2012). "Jetzt hat Basel den Titel auf sicher" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  9. ↑ "Matchtelegram FC Basel 1893 5:3 FC Luzern" (in German). football.ch. 16 May 2012. 
  10. ↑ Schifferle, Michael (10 June 2013). "Season review: Switzerland". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Telegramm Schweizer Cup Final" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  12. ↑ Haylett, Trevor (3 May 2013). "Basel take heart after Chelsea defeat". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Schweiz mit Behrami, Benaglio und Klose an die Olympischen Spiele". Schweizerischer Fussballverband (in German). 3 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Zwei weitere Titel für FCB-Nachwuchs" (in German). FC Basel 1893. 18 June 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2013. 

External links

Switzerland men's football squad – 2012 Summer Olympics
Switzerland
FC Basel – current squad
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