Manuel Friedrich

Manuel Friedrich

Personal information
Full name	Manuel Manfred Friedrich
Date of birth	13 September 1979 (1979-09-13) (age 32)
Place of birth	Bad Kreuznach, West Germany
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Bayer Leverkusen
Number	5
Youth career
0000–1995	SG Guldental
1995–1999	Mainz 05
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2002	Mainz 05	63	(8)
2002–2004	Werder Bremen	1	(0)
2003–2004	Werder Bremen II	13	(2)
2004–2007	Mainz 05	116	(8)
2007–	Bayer Leverkusen	118	(10)
National team‡
2006–2008	Germany	9	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:27, 19 November 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 February 2008

Manuel Friedrich (born 13 September 1979 in Bad Kreuznach) is a German footballer who plays for Bayer 04 Leverkusen as a central defender.^[1]

Club career

Friedrich started playing football at SG Guldental 07, making his professional debuts with 1. FSV Mainz 05, which he had joined in 1995 – the club was then in the second division. However, he had to wait until 26 February 2000 to make his competition debut, in a home match against FC Energie Cottbus.

In the following two seasons, Friedrich was a defensive stalwart, netting an astonishing eight goals (no penalties) in the latter, as Mainz finished fourth, just one point shy of promotion.

Those stellar performances attracted attention from the top level, and Friedrich signed with SV Werder Bremen, but his time there would be anything but successful, as he only appeared once in the league in two years combined, the final seven minutes of the 4–1 home triumph against FC Schalke 04, on 23 August 2003; in that second season, he also made 13 appearances with two goals for the reserve squad, in Regionalliga Nord; 2002–03 had already been totally lost to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.^[2]

In late January 2004, Friedrich returned to Mainz, still contributing with 17 matches en route to promotion; on 23 May, he scored one of four in the league as he contributed the second goal to the decisive 3–0 home win against SV Eintracht Trier 05 on the final day of the season (promotion attained on goal difference). In the following three seasons combined, he rarely missed a game, adding four goals, but Mainz would be relegated in 2007.

In July 2007 he moved to Bayer Leverkusen, continuing to be an everpresent defensive unit, and contributing – early in his first campaign – to consecutive home wins against Karlsruher SC (3–0) and VfL Bochum (2–0).

International career

In March 2006, Friedrich was called up to Germany's squad for a friendly match against the United States, thus becoming the first Mainz player to ever represent the national side.^[3] However, he did not receive any playing time in the match and was not part of the 23-man squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup either.

On 16 August 2006, Friedrich made his full debut, playing the entire second half of another friendly, the 3–0 with Sweden in Gelsenkirchen. He subsequently played all 90 minutes in the German team's opening two Euro 2008 qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland and San Marino, scoring his first international goal in the latter, the 12th in Germany's 13–0 victory over the group underdogs.^[4]

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 September 2006	Stadio Olimpico, San Marino	San Marino	0–12	0–13	Euro 2008 qualifying

References

1. ^ "Friedrich, Manuel" (in German). kicker.de. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/1-bundesliga/2011-12/bayer-leverkusen-9/22905/spieler_manuel-friedrich.html. Retrieved 2 October 2011. 
2. ^ "Banovic blow for Bremen". UEFA.com. 21 August 2002. http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=30642.html. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
3. ^ "Klinsmann makes Kehl call". UEFA.com. 14 March 2006. http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=404215.html. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
4. ^ "Records tumble as Germany soar". UEFA.com. 6 September 2006. http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/euro2012/history/season=2008/round=2241/match=83623/report=rp.html. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 

External links

• Manuel Friedrich at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Manuel Friedrich at transfermarkt.de (German)
• Leverkusen who's who

Persondata
Name	Friedrich, Manuel
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	13 September 1979
Place of birth	Bad Kreuznach, West Germany
Date of death
Place of death