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Arne Friedrich

Personal information
Full name	Arne Friedrich
Date of birth	29 May 1979 (1979-05-29) (age 30)
Place of birth	Bad Oeynhausen, West Germany
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Central defender / Right back
Club information
Current club	Hertha BSC
Number	3
Youth career
1985–1987	FC Bad Oeynhausen
1987–1992	TuS Lohe
1992–1995	Herford
1995–1999	Gütersloh
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2000	Verl	31	(0)
2000–2002	Arminia Bielefeld	47	(1)
2002–	Hertha BSC	223	(14)
National team‡
2000–2001	Germany U-21	5	(0)
2002–	Germany	69	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 March 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Arne Friedrich (German pronunciation: [ˈaɐ̯nə ˈfʁiːdʁɪç], born 29 May 1979) is a German football defender, who plays for Hertha BSC and the German national team.

As of September 2009, the Hertha BSC captain has represented his country on 67 occasions, his debut coming in the 2–2 draw against Bulgaria in Sofia, on 21 August 2002.

He was included in the 23-man squad in 2006 World Cup, where Germany finished third. Friedrich started almost every game and was very instrumental in getting Germany to the Third Place match. He is a very versatile player, playing full back, center back, and occasionally a more midfield position. He was also called up to Germany's Euro 2008 squad.

Arne Friedrich is a very reliable defender and can cause problems in striking powers as he is one of the fastest defenders in the Bundesliga.

Club career

In the 2000–01 season Arne Friedrich signed his first professional contract. Hermann Gerland, head coach of Arminia Bielefeld at the time, scouted Friedrich while playing for Regionalliga club Verl. Because of his convincing performance, Gerland decided to bring Friedrich to Bielefeld, where he immediately became a regular starter.

For two years Friedrich played for Bielefeld in the 2. Bundesliga. In 2002, he accepted an offer from Hertha BSC. With the Berlin club, Friedrich won the DFB-Ligapokal that year, defeating Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Schalke 04.

In 2004–05, Falko Götz named Friedrich captain, a role he continues to play today. So far, he has renewed his contract with Hertha twice. His current contract runs until 2012 with a performanced-based option for an additional year.

International career

Friedrich played a total of five games for the German U-21 team, and once for the the B-team known as "Team 2006".

On 21 August 2002, Friedrich made his debut for the senior team against Bulgaria. His fist major tournament for the national team was Euro 2004 where he appeared in all three group matches before the German team was eliminated. On 21 December 2004, Friedrich captained Germany to a 5–1 friendly win over Thailand in Bangkok. He has captained the team three more time since.

In 2005, Germany took part in the Confederations Cup, as World Cup hosts. Friedrich took turns with Andreas Hinkel on the right wing back position. The following year, he was part of the 23-man squad for the 2006 World Cup. Except the match for third place, which he missed because of an injury, Friedrich started all of Germany's games.

At Euro 2008, Friedrich was once again part of the German team, but was initially intended as a substitute. Following an injury to Marcel Jansen, he started the final group match and all three knock-out stage matches. The quarter-final was one Friedrich's best international matches with successfully shutting down Portuguese star Christiano Ronaldo.

In March 2009, Germany coach Joachim Löw explained that he now planned Friedrich as a centre back instead of the unpopular right wing back position. As of 5 September 2009, when he earned his 67th international cap, Friedrich is the most-capped German international to have never scored.

Career statistics

As of 18 April 2009.

Honours

Hertha BSC

• DFB-Ligapokal: 1
  

2002

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1
  

2006

External links

• Official website (German)
• Profile at HerthaBSC.de
• Profile at Kicker.de (German)
• Profile at Transfermarkt.de (German)
• Career stats at Fussballdaten.de (German)

Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Kahn • 2 Hinkel • 3 Friedrich • 4 Wörns • 5 Nowotny • 6 Baumann • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Hamann • 9 Bobic • 10 Kurányi • 11 Klose • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Brdarić • 15 Kehl • 16 Jeremies • 17 Ziege • 18 Ernst • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Lahm • 22 Frings • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Völler

Germany squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place 1 Kahn • 2 Hinkel • 3 Friedrich • 4 Huth • 5 Owomoyela • 6 Engelhardt • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Frings • 9 Hanke • 10 Deisler • 11 Brdarić • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Ernst • 16 Hitzlsperger • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Schulz • 22 Kurányi • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Klinsmann

Germany squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Lehmann • 2 Jansen • 3 Friedrich • 4 Huth • 5 Kehl • 6 Nowotny • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Frings • 9 Hanke • 10 Neuville • 11 Klose • 12 Kahn • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Hitzlsperger • 16 Lahm • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Metzelder • 22 Odonkor • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Klinsmann

Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2008 Runners-up 1 Lehmann • 2 Jansen • 3 Friedrich • 4 Fritz • 5 Westermann • 6 Rolfes • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Frings • 9 Gómez • 10 Neuville • 11 Klose • 12 Enke • 13 Ballack • 14 Trochowski • 15 Hitzlsperger • 16 Lahm • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Odonkor • 20 Podolski • 21 Metzelder • 22 Kurányi • 23 Adler • Coach: Löw