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Alexander Frei

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Alexander Frei
Personal information
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 FC Basel
Number 13
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 August 2009

Alexander Frei (born 15 July 1979 in Basel) is a Swiss footballer who currently plays for Swiss Axpo Super League club FC Basel and the Swiss national team, of which he is captain.

Club career

Alexander Frei started his professional career with his hometown club of FC Basel, where he later was transferred to FC Thun, FC Lucerne, and Servette FC, all in his native Switzerland. After a transfer to French club Rennes, he finished as the highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 for the 2004-05 season with 20 goals and was named Swiss Footballer of the Year the same season. He was also named Swiss Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2007.

Frei then signed a 4-year contract with Borussia Dortmund on 29 June 2006. Dortmund paid a transfer fee of approximately €5 million for him. From the end of the 2006–07 season, he has regularly been linked with Celtic and Napoli, whether either of these moves will materialise, however, is in doubt after Borussia Dortmund issued a press release insisting that Frei would go nowhere, even if a club offered €25 million. In the 2006-2007 season, Frei was the highest goal scorer for Borussia Dortmund with 16 goals in 32 matches.

He has recovered from a long-term injury in the 2007–08 season to score six times in his last eight appearances at Borussia Dortmund.

After speculation regarding his future, he came back to action against Schalke 04 in the fourth fixture of the Bundesliga. He scored two goals, equalising in an incredible game [1] On 17 July 2009 left Borussia Dortmund and, after six years, returned to Switzerland to sign with FC Basel[2] He made his debut in a 2-1 win over FC Sion on July 26 2009. He made an assist and also scored the last minute winner in the match at the Stade Tourbillon.[3]

International career

Frei played for Switzerland at Euro 2004 and at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. He scored two goals in the 2006 World Cup, one in the match against Togo and a controversial goal against South Korea. Frei currently has 67 caps for Switzerland.

Frei is also Switzerland's all time top scorer with 39 goals.[4] During Euro 2004, in a group match against England, Frei was caught on camera appearing to spit at Steven Gerrard. Although no action was taken at the time, Frei was later charged and given a provisional 15 day suspension by UEFA. Despite this, he was subsequently cleared of the charge on appeal and atoned by agreeing to take care of a llama.[5]

Within the first half of the opening match of UEFA Euro 2008, Frei was injured while captaining the Swiss team and missed the rest of the tournament due to a torn knee ligament in his left knee after a challenge from Czech defender Zdeněk Grygera. However, he dutifully sat on the bench with the rest of his team for inspiration. He later underwent surgery. [6]

Honours

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Frei.

References

  1. ^ Incredible Ruhr Derby
  2. ^ Wechsel perfekt: Frei verlässt Borussia Dortmund
  3. ^ Alex Frei scores late winner to give Basel 2-1 win over Sion
  4. ^ Frei breaks record, Swiss beat Liechtenstein
  5. ^ Llamaggeddon for Frei
  6. ^ Frei likely to miss rest of Euros


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