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Alexander Frei
Personal information
Full name	Alexander Frei
Date of birth	July 15, 1979 (1979-07-15) (age 29)
Place of birth	Basel, Switzerland
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Borussia Dortmund
Number	13
Youth clubs
1987–1988 1988-1995 1995-1997	FC Begnins FC Aesch (Basel-Country) FC Basel
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997–1998 1998–1999 1999–2000 2000–2003 2003–2006 2006–	FC Basel FC Thun FC Lucerne Servette FC Stade Rennes Borussia Dortmund	011 0(1) 034 0(7) 032 (15) 064 (36) 100 (48) 047 (27)
National team2
2001–	Switzerland	062 (36)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of September 10 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

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.^{citation needed}He 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 ^[1]

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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. ^[4]

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

• Homepage of Alex Frei (German)
• Alexander Frei's profile, stats & pics
• Related people on NamePedia

References

v • d • e Switzerland squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Stiel • 2 Haas • 3 Berner • 4 Henchoz • 5 Murat Yakin • 6 Vogel • 7 Cabanas • 8 Wicky • 9 Frei • 10 Hakan Yakin • 11 Chapuisat • 12 Zuberbühler • 13 Zwyssig • 14 Magnin • 15 Gygax • 16 Celestini • 17 Spycher • 18 Huggel • 19 Barnetta • 20 Müller • 21 Rama • 22 Vonlanthen • 23 Roth • Coach: Kuhn

v • d • e Switzerland squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Zuberbühler • 2 Djourou • 3 Magnin • 4 Senderos • 5 Margairaz • 6 Vogel • 7 Cabanas • 8 Wicky • 9 Frei • 10 Gygax • 11 Streller • 12 Benaglio • 13 Grichting • 14 D. Degen • 15 Džemaili • 16 Barnetta • 17 Spycher • 18 Lustrinelli • 19 Behrami • 20 Müller • 21 Coltorti • 22 Yakin • 23 P. Degen • Coach: Kuhn

v • d • e Switzerland squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Benaglio • 2 Djourou • 3 Magnin • 4 Senderos • 5 Lichtsteiner • 6 Huggel • 7 Cabanas • 8 Inler • 9 Frei • 10 Yakin • 11 Streller • 12 Derdiyok • 13 Grichting • 14 Gygax • 15 Gelson • 16 Barnetta • 17 Spycher • 18 Zuberbühler • 19 Behrami • 20 Müller • 21 Jakupović • 22 Vonlanthen • 23 P. Degen • Coach: Kuhn