Alexander Frei

He also scored his last goal, a free kick from about 25 meters in the 55th minute.

He was substituted some ten minutes later to a standing ovation.

Alexander Frei or Alex Frei (born 15 July 1979) is a Swiss professional football coach and a former player who played as a forward.

He is the current head coach of FC Aarau in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football.

He played his Swiss U-18s debut on 25 October 1995 in the 5-1 away defeat against the French Under-18s.

Between the years from 1997 to 1998 and again from 2009 to 2013 Frei played a total of 217 games for Basel scoring a total of 148 goals.

114 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 15 in the Swiss Cup, 38 in the European competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 50 were friendly games.

He scored 74 goals in the domestic league, 13 in the cup, 22 in the European matches and the other 39 were scored during the test games.

With the club he won four league championships and two cup titles.

Frei represented Switzerland at Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-21s levels.

His Under-21 debut was on 3 September 1999 in the 3-1 away win against Denmark.

Frei played his debut as full international on 24 March 2001, being substituted in, during the 1–1 away draw against the Republic of Yugoslavia during the World Cup qualification Group 1 match.

In the following match, four days later, Frei scored his first three goals for the national team in the 5–0 home win against Luxembourg.

After a transfer to French club Rennes, he finished as the highest goal-scorer in Ligue 1 for the 2004–05 season with 20 goals.

He was named Swiss Footballer of the Year the same season.

He was also named Swiss Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2007.

Frei played for Switzerland at Euro 2004.

In a group match against England, he 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.

Frei then signed a four-year contract with Borussia Dortmund on 29 June 2006.

Dortmund paid a transfer fee of approximately €5 million for him.

In the 2006–07 season, Frei was the highest goal scorer for Borussia Dortmund with 16 goals in 32 matches.

He recovered from a long-term injury in the 2007–08 season to score six times in his last eight appearances for Borussia Dortmund.

After speculation regarding his future, he came back to action against Schalke 04 in the fourth fixture of the Bundesliga.

He scored two goals, equalising in an incredible game.

On 17 July 2009, he left Borussia Dortmund after 74 league matches and, after six years, returned to Switzerland to sign with FC Basel.

He made his debut in a 2–1 win over FC Sion on 26 July 2009.

He made an assist and also scored the last minute winner in the match at the Stade Tourbillon.

During the 2009–10 season he scored 15 goals in 19 league games and FC Basel won the Double.

Frei began his career at Basel, going on to various other clubs in Switzerland, France and Germany before returning to his home club, where he won the Swiss Super League title in all four of his seasons, including doubles with the Swiss Cup in 2010 and 2012.

Frei is the all-time leading scorer of the Switzerland national team with 42 goals in 84 games, and also their sixth-most capped player of all time.

He represented the country at two UEFA European Championships and as many World Cups.

Frei started his professional career with his hometown club of FC Basel, where he later was transferred to FC Thun, FC Luzern, and Servette FC, all in his native Switzerland.

During the 2010–11 season he scored 27 goals in 35 league games, becoming the Swiss League Top goalscorer.

At the end of the 2011–12 season, Frei won his second Double with Basel, the League Championship title and the Swiss Cup.

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 were knocked out being beaten 2–5 on aggregate.

Frei's last game in this competition was as Basel qualified for the quarter-finals in the home game against Tottenham Hotspur, whom they beat 4–1 on penalties after a 4–4 aggregate draw to progress.

At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13, Frei was awarded his fourth championship medal and was awarded a Swiss Cup silver medal.

Frei played his last professional match on 14 April 2013 in the home game at St. Jakob-Park as Basel beat Zürich 3–1.

He led the team as captain for this game.