Fabian Frei

Fabian Frei (born 8 January 1989) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and a centre-back for Swiss Super League club Basel and the Switzerland national team. Until June 2011, he played for the Swiss U-21 team. He made his international debut for Swiss senior team on 7 October 2011. He was selected to represent Switzerland at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is of no relation to former club and country teammate Alexander Frei.[3]

Fabian Frei
Frei with Basel in 2019
Personal information
Full name Fabian Frei[1]
Date of birth (1989-01-08) 8 January 1989
Place of birth Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder, centre back
Team information
Current team
 Basel
Number 20
Youth career
1998–2000 Frauenfeld
2000–2004 Winterthur
2004–2006 Basel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Basel II 31 (11)
2007–2015 Basel 172 (15)
2009–2011 → St. Gallen (loan) 64 (13)
2015–2018 Mainz 05 53 (1)
2018– Basel 173 (21)
International career‡
2004–2005 Switzerland U16 11 (4)
2005–2006 Switzerland U17 14 (10)
2006–2007 Switzerland U18 5 (2)
2007–2008 Switzerland U19 7 (5)
2008 Switzerland U20 3 (0)
2008–2011 Switzerland U21 18 (4)
2012 Switzerland Olympic 4 (0)
2011– Switzerland 23 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 November 2022

Club career

Basel

Born in Frauenfeld, Frei started his youth football with FC Frauenfeld and FC Winterthur, but he came through the ranks at FC Basel. With Basel he was Swiss Champion at both U-16 and U-18 levels. During the 2006–07 season, Frei played in the U-21 team, he played so well that he was given a professional contract.[4] Because he was one of the best midfielders in the U-21 side, ahead of the 2007–08 season Frei was called into the first team squad.[5]

Frei played his first team debut on 22 July 2007 in the 1–0 home win against FC Zürich. He played a major part in Basel's title and cup win in the 2007–08 season. He scored his first goal for the club on 4 December 2008 during Basel's 3–1 win over FC Aarau in the St. Jakob-Park Stadium. Frei played his first Europa League game, as substitute, on Thursday, 16 August 2007 in the Qualifier against SV Mattersburg. He played his UEFA Champions League debut for Basel on 26 November 2008 in the 5–0 away defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk.[6]

In July 2009, due to the fact that Basel strengthened their squad for the beginning of the 2009–10 Swiss Super League season, Basel's new trainer Thorsten Fink loaned Fabian Frei to FC St. Gallen. During his two-year loan in St. Gallen he played 64 league games in which he scored 13 goals.

For the start of the 2011–12 Swiss Super League season he was recalled to Basel, the reigning Swiss Champions, and he immediately won his place in the starting eleven. Frei scored his first Champions League goal for Basel on 14 September 2011 in the Group C 2–1 home win against Oțelul Galați,[7] his second on 27 September in the 3–3 draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United[8] and his third on 22 November in the Arena Națională, in Bucharest, as Basel won the away game against Oțelul Galați 3–2.[9] At the end of the 2011–12 season, Frei won the Double, the League Championship title[10] and the Swiss Cup[11] with Basel.

At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Frei won the Championship title[12] and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.[13] In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced as far as the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but they were knocked out, losing both home and away tie, beaten 2–5 on aggregate.[14]

At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Frei won his fourth league championship with Basel.[15] They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. During the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached the group stage and finished the group in third position. Thus they qualified for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals. In their season 2013–14 Basel played a total of 68 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 6 Champions League and 10 Europa League and 10 test matches). Frei totaled 66 appearances, 34 League, 6 Cup, 6 Champions League and 10 Europa League as well all 10 in the test games.[16]

The season 2014–15 was a very successful one for Basel and for Frei. The championship was won for the sixth time in a row that season[17] and in the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final. But for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 to FC Sion in the final. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage and reached the knockout phase as on 9 December 2014 they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool.[18] Frei scored the goal for FC Basel against Liverpool to help Basel to the next round of the UEFA Champions League. But then Basel then lost to FC Porto in the Round of 16. Basel played a total of 65 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 8 Champions League and 15 test matches). Under trainer Paulo Sousa Frei totaled 56 appearances, 31 in the Super League, 5 Cup, 8 Champions League, as well 12 in test games. He scored a total of 4 goals in these matches.[19]

Mainz 05

On 23 June 2015, Frei joined German Bundesliga club 1. FSV Mainz 05.[20]

Return to Basel

On 23 December 2017, FC Basel announced that Frei would return to the club, signing a four and a half year contract dated up until June 2022.[21]

Under trainer Marcel Koller Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat Montlingen 3–0, in the second round Echallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16 Winterthur 1–0. In the quarter-finals Sion were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi-finals Zürich were defeated 3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against Thun. Striker Albian Ajeti scored the first goal, Fabian Frei the second for Basel, then Dejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel.[22] Frei played in five cup games and scored not only in the final but also a goal in the match against Echallens.

International career

Frei represented Switzerland at various age levels. He played his Swiss Under-16s debut on 12 October 2004 in the 3–1 away win against the Belgium Under-16s. In 14 games for the Switzerland U-17 team he scored ten goals.

Between 2008 and 2011 Fabian Frei played 18 games for the Switzerland U-21 team. His Under-21s debut was on 19 November 2008 in the 1–1 away draw against the Greece Under-21 team. His last game was the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final on 25 June 2011.

Following this he was called into the Swiss national football team by trainer Ottmar Hitzfeld. Frei gave his international debut for Switzerland on 7 October 2011 in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying game in the Liberty Stadium against Wales.

Frei was selected to represent Switzerland in the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the Swiss under-23 team.[23] He played over 90 minutes in all three games in the tournament, but the team were knocked out, finishing in fourth position of their Group.

Career statistics

Club
As of 1 June 2017[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Basel 2007–08 Swiss Super League 240207[lower-alpha 1]0330
2008–09 252402[lower-alpha 2]0312
2011–12 314428[lower-alpha 2]3439
2012–13 2745216[lower-alpha 3]1487
2013–14 3456116[lower-alpha 4]1567
2014–15 311518[lower-alpha 2]1443
Total 1721626657625528
St. Gallen (loan) 2009–10 Swiss Super League 30651—357
2010–11 34734—3711
Total 641385007218
Mainz 05 2015–16 Bundesliga 18011—191
2016–17 240114[lower-alpha 1]0291
2017–18 11130—141
Total 5315240623
Basel 2017–18 Swiss Super League 00000000
Career total 28930391361638949
  1. Appearances in the Europa League
  2. Appearances in the Champions League
  3. Three appearances in the Champions League, thirteen appearances and a goal in the Europa League
  4. Ten appearances and a goal in the Champions League, six appearances in the Europa League

International goals
Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Frei goal.[25]
List of international goals scored by Fabian Frei
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
118 November 2014Municipal Stadium, Wrocław, Poland Poland2–22–2Friendly
27 October 2017St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland Hungary2–05–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
327 March 2018Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland Panama6–06–0Friendly

Honours

Basel Youth

  • U18 Swiss: 2005–06[26]
  • U19 Swiss Cup: 2005–06[26]

Basel

Switzerland U21

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Switzerland (SUI)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 28. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. "Fabian Frei". FC Basel. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. "Fabian and Alexander Frei Unrelated". Socqer.com. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  4. "Fabian Frei: Profivertrag bis 2009" (in German). FC Basel 1893. 24 November 2006. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  5. Weber, Dominik (25 June 2007). "FCB-Transfers im Sommer 2007" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  6. "Vereinsspiele" (in German). weltfussball.ch. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  7. Rogers, Steven (14 September 2011). "Freis double up as Basel beat Oţelul". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  8. Hart, Simon (27 September 2010). "United strike late to deny Basel famous win". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  9. Haylett, Trevor (22 November 2011). "Basel hang on to set up United showdown". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  10. Meister, Remo (29 April 2012). "Jetzt hat Basel den Titel auf sicher" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  11. "Matchtelegram FC Basel 1893 5:3 FC Luzern" (in German). football.ch. 16 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.
  12. Schifferle, Michael (10 June 2013). "Season review: Switzerland". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  13. "Telegramm Schweizer Cup Final" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  14. Haylett, Trevor (3 May 2013). "Basel take heart after Chelsea defeat". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  15. Grossenbacher, Sacha (2014). "Fotos vom Spiel gegen Lausanne sowie den anschliessenden Feierlichkeiten" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  16. Zindel, Josef (2014). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2014/2015. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2027-6.
  17. Marti, Caspar (2015). "Der Meisterfreitag im bunten Zeitraffer" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  18. "Liverpool 1 Basel 1". BBC Sport. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  19. Zindel, Josef (2015). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4.
  20. "Frei kommt für vier Jahre". 1. FSV Mainz 05. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  21. FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Fabian Frei kehrt zum FCB zurück". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  22. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". "FC Basel - FC Thun 2:1 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  23. "Schweiz mit Behrami, Benaglio und Klose an die Olympischen Spiele". Schweizerischer Fussballverband (in German). 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  24. "Fabian Frei Profile". Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  25. "Frei, Fabian". National Football Teams. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  26. "Zwei weitere Titel für FCB-Nachwuchs" (in German). FC Basel 1893. 18 June 2006. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  27. "UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
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