Stefan Frei

Stefan Frei

Personal information
Full name	Stefan Frei
Date of birth	20 April 1986 (1986-04-20)
Place of birth	Altstätten, Switzerland
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Toronto FC
Number	24
Youth career
2006–2008	California Golden Bears
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006	San Francisco Seals	6	(0)
2007–2008	San Jose Frogs	18	(0)
2009–	Toronto FC	81	(0)
National team
	Switzerland U-15	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of September 24, 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Stefan Frei (born 20 April 1986 in Altstätten) is a Swiss footballer who currently plays for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.

Career

Youth and college

Frei moved from Switzerland to the United States in the late 1990s, attended De La Salle High School in Concord, California, and played college soccer at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2008, he was named to the All-Pac-10 first team and the NSCAA Far West All-Region team, and was also named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Season. During his college years, Frei also played with both San Francisco Seals and San Jose Frogs in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Frei was named MVP at the 2009 MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, signed a Generation Adidas contract, and was drafted in the first round (13th overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC.

He made his professional debut on 21 March 2009, in Toronto's first game of the 2009 MLS season against Kansas City Wizards, and soon established himself as the team's first choice goalkeeper. Shortly after Frei was named Toronto FC Esquire Player of the Month for April 2009. Frei also won MLS's Save of the Week for week 15 and then three times consecutively for week 24, 25 and 26 of the 2009 season.

He played in 3 games of the 2009 Canadian Championship going 3-0 and ultimately making key saves in the deciding game that ensured Toronto FC would win by at least 4 goals on goal differential and their first trophy.

On 25 April 2010, Frei picked up his first clean sheet of the 2010 season in a 2-0 home win versus the Seattle Sounders FC. Frei had another standout season as Toronto's first choice keeper. He finished the season with a 1.32 goals against average and a 70% save percentage, he improved all statistics from his rookie season. It was announced on 18 November 2010 that Frei would graduate from the MLS Generation Adidas program at the end of the 2010 season.

January 2011 after the hire of Aron Winter as the clubs new coach stated in an interview that Julian De Guzman, Dwayne De Rosario and Stefan would be the key players of the upcoming season and was impressed with Frei's abilities. Frei recorded his first clean sheet of the 2011 season in the second game of the year in a 2-0 home victory over Portland Timbers on March 26. Frei also earned his third assist since playing with Toronto setting up the second goal for Javier Martina, it was later awarded the Goal of the Week in MLS. Following the departure of Toronto captain Dwayne De Rosario in early April, Coach Winter named Maicon Santos as the replacement captain while Frei would be come vice captain. On April 13 against Los Angeles Galaxy Frei wore the captain's armband for the first time with Toronto due to an injury to Santos, the game ended in a 0-0 home draw. Frei played started most games in the first half of 201 but faced some injuries, after resting a few games backup keeper Miloš Kocić strung together several strong performances creating a highly competitive environment at the position. At the end of the season it was announced that Frei would be training with Liverpool, and return to Toronto before pre-season training.

International

Frei was a member of the Swiss U-15 National team. Despite interest from the U.S. national team program, Frei has said he is committed to the Swiss national team if called up in the future.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Stefan is second-cousin to the recently retired captain of, and all-time leading scorer for, the Swiss national football team, Alexander Frei, an accomplished striker twice voted Swiss player of the year, who currently plays for Axpo Super League club FC Basel.

Honours

Toronto FC

• Canadian Championship (3): 2009, 2010, 2011

Club Statistics

Club	Nat	Season	League	League		Playoff		Domestic Cup		Continental		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Toronto FC		2009	MLS	26	0	-		3	0	2	0	31	0
		2010		28	0	-		2	0	3	0	33	0
		2011		27	0	-		4	0	-		31	0
Career total				81	0	0	0	9	0	5	0	95	0

Last updated on September 24, 2011

See also

• List of current MLS players

External links

• MLS player profile
• University of California profile