Torsten Frings

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Torsten Frings

Frings playing for Toronto at Rogers Centre on 7 March 2012
Personal information
Full nameTorsten Klaus Frings[1]
Date of birth (1976-11-22) 22 November 1976
Place of birthWürselen, West Germany
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionCentral Midfielder
Youth career
1982–1988Rot-Weiß Alsdorf
1988–1990Rhenania Alsdorf
1990–1994Alemannia Aachen
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1994–1997Alemannia Aachen56(13)
1997Werder Bremen (A)1(1)
1997–2002Werder Bremen162(15)
2002–2004Borussia Dortmund47(10)
2004–2005Bayern Munich29(3)
2005–2011Werder Bremen164(21)
2011–2012Toronto FC33(2)
Total492(65)
National team‡
1997–1998Germany U216(1)
1999–2000Germany B5(0)
2001–2009Germany79(10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 August 2012.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:15, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Torsten Klaus Frings (born 22 November 1976 in Würselen) is a German former football central midfielder.

He played 79 matches for the German national football team from his debut in 2001, including at two European Championships and two FIFA World Cups.

Career

Early career

His professional career began at third division Alemannia Aachen before a move to Werder Bremen in 1996–97, helping the Weserstadion outfit to a German Cup final defeat of Bayern Munich in 1999 and tallying more than 160 Bundesliga appearances and 15 goals over six seasons.

Borussia Dortmund

In 2002, a number of Europe's leading clubs were on Frings's trail prior to the World Cup but he opted for a four-year deal with Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of €10 million, penning the contract two games into the competition. A regular in his first term at the Westfalenstadion, Frings also played 12 times in the UEFA Champions League, scoring home and away against Lokomotiv Moscow.

Frings's 2003–04 season only began on 30 January when he played against Schalke 04, his first game since damaging his knee against VfL Bochum in July. He took over from Tomáš Rosický in the playmaking role and scored four times in 16 games before signing a three-year contract with Dortmund's rivals, Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich

Despite winning the domestic double with Bayern and making 29 Bundesliga and ten Champions League appearances, Frings never really enjoyed his football in Munich, and was played out of position by coach Felix Magath.

Werder Bremen

In June 2005, he rejoined Bremen for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal, helping them past FC Basel into the Champions League group stage.

Toronto FC and retirement

On 29 June 2011, it was announced that Frings had reached an agreement to join Major League Soccer team Toronto FC as a designated player.[2] During the press conference in which Frings was presented to the Toronto media, the club also announced the signing of Danny Koevermans.[3] Frings made his debut for Toronto on 20 July 2011 in a 1–0 home defeat to FC Dallas.[4] On 29 July 2011, Frings made his CONCACAF Champions League debut against Real Esteli F.C. in which he was given the honour of wearing the captain's armband for Toronto.[5] Frings became the permanent captain of the club following Maicon Santos's transfer to FC Dallas.

On 27 June 2012, Frings scored his first MLS goal in a 3–0 away victory over Montreal Impact, blasting a free kick in the 52nd minute from 22 yards out.[6]

Frings missed the latter portion of the 2012 season after sustaining a hip injury which required arthoscopic surgery.[7] [8] Frings’ subsequent recovery progressed slower than expected, ultimately leading to his decision to retire from football in February 2013.[9][10]

Club president, Kevin Payne indicated that the team wanted to maintain a relationship with Frings "not just for next season, but for seasons to come." Frings himself said he wants to return to the game as a coach.[11]

International career

Frings is an all-action, versatile midfielder. He can play anywhere across midfield, although he is most comfortable running deep from his own team's box to the opposition's box. He is however deployed as defensive midfielder where his tough tackling is useful. Frings is also known for his explosive, powerful shot. Frings scored Germany's fourth goal in a 4–2 win against Costa Rica in the opening match of the 2006 World Cup on 9 June 2006 with a powerful drive from more than 30 yards.

Following Germany's penalty shootout victory over Argentina on 30 June 2006, Frings was fined and suspended by FIFA for two games (one of which is subject to a six-month probationary period) for his role in the brawl that broke out between the Argentine and German teams after the match.[12] After reviewing video footage of the brawl, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee determined that Frings had punched Argentine forward Julio Cruz and levelled punishment accordingly, even though Cruz himself had denied that Frings punched him; the second game of the suspension was made probationary due to the Committee's determination that Frings had been provoked into fighting. This suspension decision, announced by FIFA only the day before Germany's semi-final versus Italy on 4 July 2006, rendered Frings unavailable for the important match.

The controversy of the decision was also sparked by the fact that Frings' role in the brawl had been widely accentuated in the Italian media after FIFA had already announced it closed its investigations against German players. Frings answered to the accusations in an interview: "This is all politics. The Argentinians attack us, I defend myself and the Italians get worked up. With this suspension, FIFA just wanted to show that Germany doesn't get special treatment as the World Cup hosts."

Frings was also called up to Germany's Euro 2008 squad,[13] but was not included in the team for the 2010 World Cup by German coach Joachim Löw.[14] He played his last international match on 11 February 2009 against Norway.[15]

Coaching career

Frings is planning on being a youth coach at Werder Bremen.[16] Werder Bremen CEO Klaus Allofs stated that "he can learn the coaching profession for us from the bottom up."[16]

Personal

Frings is married to Petra and they have two children, Lisa-Katharina and Lena Alina.[17] His hobbies include spending time with his family and riding his motorbike.[17]

Career statistics

As of 28 August 2012.[18]
Club performanceLeagueCupLeague CupContinentalTotal
ClubLeagueSeasonAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GermanyLeagueDFB-PokalDFB-LigapokalEuropeTotal
Werder BremenBundesliga1996–97150——— 150
1997–98282———282
1998–9923310—83326
1999–003333020—383
2000–01301———301
2001–0233610—20366
Borussia Dortmund2002–033162010122468
2003–04164—10—174
Bayern Munich2004–05293602181455
Werder Bremen2005–062834120101445
2006–07331—21142494
2007–08111—1020141
2008–0930441—50395
2009–10306501144610
2010–113261061397
CanadaLeagueCanadian ChampionshipMLS PlayoffsNorth AmericaTotal
Toronto FCMLS201113000—60190
201220230—40272
Career totalsGermany40249272112781351866
Canada3323000100462
Career statistics43551302112881356468

Honours

Club

Werder Bremen
Bayern Munich
Toronto FC

National team

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 – List of Players" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). p. 12. Retrieved 26 July 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Frings wechselt zu Klinsmann-Club Toronto". Die Welt. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011. 
  3. ↑ "Frings & Koevermans Join TFC". Toronto FC. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2012. 
  4. ↑ Millson, Larry (20 July 2011). "New-Look Reds Sunk By Strike From Shea". TorontoFC.ca. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 
  5. ↑ "Plata Paces Toronto To Victory". Toronto FC. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011. 
  6. ↑ "Recap: Rampant Toronto throttle Impact 3-0 in Montreal". mlssoccer.com. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012. 
  7. ↑ "Toronto FC captain Torsten Frings to miss rest of season with hip injury". Toronto Star. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012. 
  8. ↑ Larson, Curtis (5 September 2012). "Frings to miss remainder of MLS season". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 13 September 2012. 
  9. ↑ "Injuries force Toronto DP Frings into retirement". Major League Soccer. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013. 
  10. ↑ "Werder-Legende Torsten Frings beendet Karriere". Die Welt (in German). 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Toronto FC captain Torsten Frings retires". theglobeandmail.com. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013. 
  12. ↑ "Frings missing but Germany remain confident". fifa.com. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 29 March 2009. 
  13. ↑ "Frings denkt nicht an Rücktritt: Weltmeister werden" (in German). transfermarkt.de. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009. 
  14. ↑ "Loew tells Frings he won't be going to World Cup". www.nola.com. 20 January 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 
  15. ↑ Matthias Arnhold (19 May 2011). "Torsten Frings - Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Torsten Frings will Jugendtrainer bei Werder werden". Die Welt (in German). 5 november 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2012. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Torsten Frings". werder.de. Retrieved 29 March 2009. 
  18. ↑ "Frings, Torsten" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 21 October 2013. 
  19. ↑ "Torsten Frings ist wieder Meister – in Kanada". Die Welt (in German). 24 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Torsten Frings.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Maicon Santos		 Toronto FC Captain
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Darren O'Dea
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