Alexander Frei

Football player infobox
playername = Alexander Frei
nickname = snoop, alexander the great


fullname = Alexander Frei
height = height|m=1.79
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|7|15
cityofbirth = Basel
countryofbirth = Switzerland
currentclub = Borussia Dortmund
clubnumber = 13
position = Striker
youthyears = 1987–1988 1988-1995 1995-1997
youthclubs = FC Begnins FC Aesch (Basel-Country) FC Basel
years = 1997–1998 1998–1999
1999–2000
2000–2003
2003–2006
2006–
clubs = FC Basel
FC Thun
FC Lucerne
Servette FC
Stade Rennes
Borussia Dortmund
caps(goals) = 011 0(1)
034 0(7)
032 (15)
064 (36)
100 (48)
047 (27)
nationalyears = 2001–
nationalteam = Switzerland
nationalcaps(goals) = 062 (36)
pcupdate =
ntupdate = September 10 2008

Alexander Frei (born 15 July 1979 in Basel) is a Swiss footballer who plays for Borussia Dortmund and the Swiss national team, of which he is captain.

Club career

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

Frei was the highest goalscorer in the French league for the 2004-05 season with 20 goals, playing for Rennes and was named Swiss Footballer of the year the same season. He was also named Swiss Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2007.

He has recovered from a long-term injury in the 2007/2008 season to score six times in his last eight appearances at Borussia Dortmund.

Frei issued a come and get me plea to long term admirers Celtic while playing for his country at the Euro 2008. Fact|date=July 2008He has also been linked with Portsmouth and again S.S.C. Napoli in 2008.

After speculations about him, he came back to action against Schalke 04 in the fourth fixture of the Bundesliga. He scored two goals, equalizing in a incredible game [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=252664&cc=3888&league=GER.1 Incredible Ruhr Derby] ]

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 FIFA World Cup, one in the match against Togo and a controversial goal against South Korea. Until now he has been capped 58 times for his country (as of June 2008).

Frei is Switzerland's all time top scorer with 35 goals. [ [http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8194230/Frei-breaks-record,-Swiss-beat-Liechtenstien Frei breaks record, Swiss beat Liechtenstien] ] 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. [ [http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=1024/newsId=212432.html Llamaggeddon for Frei] ]

Within the first half of the opening match of 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 clumsy challenge from Czech defender Zdenek Grygera. However he dutifully sat on the bench with the rest of his team for inspiration. He later required surgery and is expected to be out of football for 10 weeks. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2008/switzerland/7370946.stm Frei likely to miss rest of Euros] ]

Honours

* 2001: Winner of Schweizer Cup with Servette FC
* 2002: Semi-finalist of the European under-21 championship
* 2003: Second highest scorer in Ligue 1 (20 goals) after Djibril Cissé
* 2003: Credit Suisse Player of the Year
* 2005: Top goalscorer in Ligue 1 (20 goals)
* 2007: Swiss player of the Year

External links

* [http://www.alexfrei.ch Homepage of Alex Frei] de icon
* [http://www.stade-rennais-online.com/Alexander-Frei.html Alexander Frei's profile, stats & pics]
* [http://www.namepedia.org/en/real_people/Alex_Frei/ Related people on NamePedia]

References