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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 FC Winterthur 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]
 Frei with Basel in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fabian Frei[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 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 | Winterthur | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2000 | Frauenfeld | ||
| 2000–2004 | Winterthur | ||
| 2004–2007 | 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) |
| 2018–2024 | Basel | 214 | (25) |
| 2024– | Winterthur | 10 | (1) |
| 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 9 September 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 November 2022 | |||
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Basel
Born in Frauenfeld, Frei started his youth football with local amateur club FC Frauenfeld and then he moved to the youth of FC Winterthur in summer 2000. However, he came through the ranks with FC Basel, joining their youth department and playing in their U-16 team, winning the Swiss championship title for that age group in the 2004–05 season. He played in their U-18 team during the 2005–06 season, under coach Patrick Rahmen and his assistant Marco Walker and with them won both the Swiss U-18 championship and the U-19/18 national cup that season.[4] For the 2006–07 season, he advanced to their U-21 team, who played in the third tier, and was given a professional contract.[5] The team won their division and became Swiss champions at U-21 level, Frei, playing as attacking midfielder, made 30 appearances, scoring 11 goals.[6]
Ahead of their 2007–08 season Frei was called into the first team squad by head coach Christian Gross.[7] After having played in 13 test games, Frei played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 22 July 2007 as Basel won 1–0 against Zürich.[8] He played his UEFA Cup debut with the team in the home game on 16 August, coming on as substitute, as Basel won 2–1 against SV Mattersburg.[9] Basel played in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. Winning both matches in the qualification round and both matches in the play-off round, they team advanced to the group stage, which they ended undefeated in second position, after playing 1–0 at home against Stade Rennes, 0–0 away against Dinamo Zagreb, 1–0 at home against Brann and 1–1 away against Hamburger SV, to continue the knockout stage. But then they were eliminated here by Sporting CP. Frei had seven appearances during the teams 10 European games.[10] At the end of their 2007–08 season Frei won the Double with the club. They won the League Championship title with four points advantage over second placed Young Boys. Frei had 24 appearances.[11] In the Swiss Cup Basel advanced to the final, and winning this 4–1 against AC Bellinzona they won the competition.[12]
To the beginning of the 2008–09 season he was member of the Basel team that won the Uhrencup. They beat Legia Warsaw 6–1 and played a 2–2 draw with Borussia Dortmund to end the table on top slot above Dortmund and Luzern.[13] Frei played his UEFA Champions League debut for Basel on 26 November 2008 in the 5–0 away defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk.[14] He scored his first goal with the team in the home game on 4 December 2008. It was the last goal of the match as Basel won 3–1 against FC Aarau.[15]
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,[16] his second on 27 September in the 3–3 draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United[17] and his third on 22 November in the Arena Națională, in Bucharest, as Basel won the away game against Oțelul Galați 3–2.[18] At the end of the 2011–12 season, Frei won the Double, the League Championship title[19] and the Swiss Cup[20] with Basel.
At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Frei won the Championship title[21] and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.[22] 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.[23]
At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Frei won his fourth league championship with Basel.[24] 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.[25]
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[26] 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.[27] 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.[28]
Mainz 05
On 23 June 2015, Frei joined German Bundesliga club 1. FSV Mainz 05.[29]
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.[30]
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 result was 2–1 for Basel.[31] Frei played in five cup games and scored not only in the final but also a goal in the match against Echallens.
On the final day of the summer 2024 transfer window, FCB announced that their captain Fabian Frei had decided to rejoin his youth club Winterthur. On 9 September, his contract with Basel was terminated by mutual consent, so that he can take on a new challenge.[32] Between the years 2007 to 2015 and again from 2018 to 2024 Frei played a total of 679 games for Basel scoring a total of 94 goals. 386 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 46 in the Swiss Cup, 111 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League, Europa League and Conference League) and 136 were friendly games. He scored 41 goals in the domestic league, 10 in the cup, 13 in the European games and the other 30 were scored during the test games. Fabian Frei is the clubs record holder for the number of competition matches played with the club. He played 543 games in league, cup and UEFA.[33]
FC Winterthur
On the day of his departure from Basel, he joined fellow Super League side FC Winterthur.[34]
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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.[35] 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.
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Club
- As of 1 June 2017[36]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Basel | 2007–08 | Swiss Super League | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[a] | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| 2008–09 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 31 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | 31 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 8[b] | 3 | 43 | 9 | ||
| 2012–13 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 16[c] | 1 | 48 | 7 | ||
| 2013–14 | 34 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 16[d] | 1 | 56 | 7 | ||
| 2014–15 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 8[b] | 1 | 44 | 3 | ||
| Total | 172 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 57 | 6 | 255 | 28 | ||
| St. Gallen (loan) | 2009–10 | Swiss Super League | 30 | 6 | 5 | 1 | — | 35 | 7 | |
| 2010–11 | 34 | 7 | 3 | 4 | — | 37 | 11 | |||
| Total | 64 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 18 | ||
| Mainz 05 | 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 19 | 1 | |
| 2016–17 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4[a] | 0 | 29 | 1 | ||
| 2017–18 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 14 | 1 | |||
| Total | 53 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 62 | 3 | ||
| Basel | 2017–18 | Swiss Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 289 | 30 | 39 | 13 | 61 | 6 | 389 | 49 | ||
- Appearances in the Europa League
- Appearances in the Champions League
- Three appearances in the Champions League, thirteen appearances and a goal in the Europa League
- Ten appearances and a goal in the Champions League, six appearances in the Europa League
International
- Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Frei goal.[37]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 November 2014 | Municipal Stadium, Wrocław, Poland |  Poland | 2–2 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 7 October 2017 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland |  Hungary | 2–0 | 5–2 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 27 March 2018 | Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland |  Panama | 6–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
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Basel youth
- Swiss champion at U-16 level: 2004–05
- Swiss champion at U-18 level: 2005–06[4]
- Swiss Cup at U-19/U-18 level: 2005–06[4]
- Swiss champion at U-21 level: 2006–07
Basel
- Swiss Super League: 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
- Swiss Cup: 2007–08, 2011–12, 2018–19; runner up: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
Switzerland U21
- UEFA Euro U21 runner-up: 2011
Individual
- Goal of the Year: 2008–09 (5 December 2008 vs. FC Aarau)
- UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2019–20[38]
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