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Stefan Frei

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Stefan Frei
Playing for the Seattle Sounders in 2014
Personal information
Full name Stefan Frei
Date of birth (1986-04-20) 20 April 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Altstätten, Switzerland
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Seattle Sounders FC
Number 24
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2008 California Golden Bears 47 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 San Francisco Seals 6 (0)
2007–2008 San Jose Frogs 18 (0)
2009–2013 Toronto FC 82 (0)
2014– Seattle Sounders FC 98 (0)
International career
Switzerland U15 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 October 2016

Stefan Frei (born 20 April 1986) is a Swiss footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer. Frei has played his entire professional career in Major League Soccer.

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.[1] During his college years, Frei also played with both San Francisco Seals and San Jose Frogs in the USL Premier Development League.

Club career

Toronto FC

Frei was named MVP at the 2009 MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, signed a Generation Adidas contract.

Frei was drafted in the first round (13th overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC.[2]

He made his professional debut on 21 March 2009, in Toronto's first game of the 2009 MLS season against Kansas City Wizards,[3] and soon established himself as the team's first choice goalkeeper.[4] Shortly after Frei was named Toronto FC 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.

Frei with Toronto FC in 2010

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.[citation needed]

On 25 April 2010, Frei picked up his first clean sheet of the 2010 season in a 2–0 home win over Seattle Sounders FC.[5] 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.[6]

In January 2011, after the hire of Aron Winter as the club's new coach, he stated in an interview that Julian De Guzman, Dwayne De Rosario and Stefan would be the key players of the upcoming season and he was impressed with Frei's abilities.[7] 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 26 March. 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.[8][9] Following the departure of Toronto captain Dwayne De Rosario in early April, Coach Winter named Maicon Santos as the replacement captain while Frei would become vice captain. On 13 April 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.[10] 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.[11][12]

After making his season debut against Los Angeles Galaxy on 7 March in the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals first leg, Frei sat out the second leg with Kocić being given the start. Much speculation began to arise with rumors of Frei being traded, however the following week he sustained a broken fibula during training.[13] Two weeks later the club announced that Frei would have to undergo surgery to repair ligaments in his left ankle, he is expected to be out for four to six months putting his entire season in jeopardy.[14]

Following a year of recovery Frei entered the 2013 pre-season as the first choice keeper, however he suffered a minor injury in training allowing back up Joe Bendik to start in the season opener.[15] Bendik continued to put in strong performances forcing coach Ryan Nelsen to stick with him, Frei earned his first start in over a year in a Canadian Championship match against Montreal Impact on 24 April 2013, the game ended in a 2–0 home victory for Toronto.[16]

Seattle Sounders

Frei was traded to Seattle Sounders FC on 10 December 2013 in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.[17]

International

Frei was a member of the Swiss U-15 national team.

Personal life

Stefan is a second-cousin of 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 used to play for Axpo Super League club FC Basel and is now the sports director for FC Luzern.[18]

Frei holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wu, Anthony (20 July 2009). "Success Follows Former Cal Goalie After Leaving School Early for MLS". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  2. ^ "Frei First Goalkeeper Drafted in MLS Super Draft". calbears.com. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  3. ^ http://web.mlsnet.com/scoreboard/game.jsp?match=03212009_TORKC
  4. ^ Fitzgerald, Tom (11 July 2009). "Former De La Salle and Cal goalkeeper Stefan Frei, now with Toronto FC, is a contender for MLS rookie of the year". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  5. ^ "De Rosario attack stuns Seattle". Torontofc.ca. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |separator=, |month=, and |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/generation-adidas-players-graduate-seasons-end Generation adidas players to graduate at season's end
  7. ^ "Kelly: Sitting down with Toronto FC's new boss". thestar.com. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Martina Brace Leads The Way". Toronto FC. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  9. ^ "Martina's blast wins AT&T Goal of the Week". Major League Soccer. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  10. ^ "Another Point To Youthful TFC". Toronto FC. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  11. ^ "Reports: Liverpool Training For Frei". Toronto FC. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  12. ^ "Reports: Deserved Opportunity For Frei". Toronto FC. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  13. ^ "TFC's Frei out 8–10 weeks with broken leg". Rogers Sportsnet. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Toronto FC Goalkeep Stefan Frei to Miss Six Months". National Post. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  15. ^ "Bendik's Success Story". Toronto FC. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Reds blank Impact in first leg of ACC". Toronto FC. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  17. ^ "Stefan Frei Traded For Pick". Toronto FC. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  18. ^ Swiss striker Frei has a nose for goal
  19. ^ http://americansoccernow.com/articles/thriving-in-seattle-stefan-frei-has-trophies-in-mind
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