Arne Friedrich facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Arne Friedrich

Friedrich in a charity match in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Arne Friedrich
Date of birth	(1979-05-29) 29 May 1979 (age 46)
Place of birth	Bad Oeynhausen, West Germany
Height	1.85 m
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Hertha BSC (sporting director)
Youth career
1985–1987	FC Bad Oeynhausen
1987–1992	TuS Lohe
1992–1995	SC Herford
1995–1999	FC Gütersloh
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2000	SC Verl	31	(0)
2000–2002	Arminia Bielefeld	47	(1)
2002–2010	Hertha BSC	231	(13)
2010–2011	VfL Wolfsburg	15	(0)
2012–2013	Chicago Fire	23	(1)
Total		347	(15)
National team
2000–2001	Germany U21	5	(0)
2002	Germany Team 2006	1	(0)
2002–2011	Germany	82	(1)
Teams managed
2014–2015	Germany U18 (assistant)
Honours Men's Football Representing  Germany FIFA World Cup Bronze 2006 Germany Bronze 2010 South Africa UEFA European Championship Runner-up 2008 Austria–Switzerland
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Arne Friedrich (born May 29, 1979) is a famous German football player who used to play as a defender. He was also a sporting director for Hertha BSC, a big football club.

Arne Friedrich was a very flexible player. He could play in different defensive positions like full-back and centre-back. Sometimes, he even played in the midfield. He played for the German national team 82 times and scored one goal. He took part in major tournaments like Euro 2004, World Cup 2006, Euro 2008, and the World Cup 2010.

Arne Friedrich's Club Career

Arne Friedrich played for several football clubs during his career. He started his professional journey at Arminia Bielefeld before moving to Hertha BSC, where he became a very important player.

Playing for Arminia Bielefeld

Arne Friedrich signed his first professional contract in the 2000–01 season. A coach from Arminia Bielefeld, Hermann Gerland, noticed him playing for a smaller club, SC Verl. Gerland was impressed and brought Friedrich to Bielefeld. Arne quickly became a regular player in the team.

Time at Hertha BSC

Friedrich playing for Hertha BSC in 2009

In 2002, Friedrich joined Hertha BSC, a club from Berlin. In his first year there, he helped the team win the DFB-Ligapokal. They beat strong teams like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund to win the trophy.

In the 2004–05 season, Friedrich was made captain of Hertha BSC. He kept this important role for the rest of his time at the club. He played 231 matches in the top German league for Hertha.

Moving to VfL Wolfsburg

After Hertha BSC was moved down to a lower league in 2010, Friedrich left the club. He moved to VfL Wolfsburg and signed a three-year contract. However, he had a long-term injury and left Wolfsburg in September 2011.

Playing for Chicago Fire

Friedrich (left) playing for Chicago Fire

In March 2012, Arne Friedrich joined the Chicago Fire team in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States. He played his first game for them on April 16, 2012. He scored his first MLS goal on August 12, 2012.

Arne was named the "Defender of the Year" for Chicago Fire in 2012. He extended his contract with the team until the end of 2013. Sadly, due to more injuries, he didn't play any matches in 2013. On June 23, 2013, Arne Friedrich announced that he was retiring from professional football.

Arne Friedrich's International Career

Arne Friedrich also had a great career playing for his country, Germany.

He played five games for the German U-21 team. He also played one game for the "Team 2006", which was like a B-team.

Friedrich and Michael Ballack playing for Germany in 2009

Friedrich with Germany in 2011

His first game for the senior national team was on August 21, 2002, against Bulgaria. He played in Euro 2004, where Germany was eliminated in the group stage. In December 2004, he was even captain for a friendly match against Thailand.

In 2005, Germany hosted the Confederations Cup. Friedrich played in this tournament. The next year, he was part of the squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He started almost all of Germany's games in this World Cup.

At Euro 2008, Friedrich was a key player again. He played very well in the quarter-final match, helping to stop the famous player Cristiano Ronaldo from scoring.

In March 2009, the German coach, Joachim Löw, decided that Friedrich would play as a centre-back instead of a right-back.

Arne Friedrich was also in Germany's team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. On July 3, 2010, in a quarter-final match against Argentina, he scored his first ever goal for Germany. Germany won that game 4–0!

Arne Friedrich's Career as Manager and Executive

After retiring from playing, Arne Friedrich stayed involved in football.

On August 28, 2014, he became an assistant coach for the German U18 national team. He worked in this role until the end of 2015.

In November 2019, Friedrich returned to Hertha BSC as a performance manager. He later became the sporting director in summer 2020. He even served as an interim managing director for a few months. In July 2021, he went back to being the sporting director and joined the executive board of Hertha BSC.

Arne Friedrich's International Goal

Arne Friedrich scored one goal for the German national team:

List of international goals scored by Arne Friedrich

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 July 2010	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa	Argentina	3–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup

Arne Friedrich's Honours and Awards

Arne Friedrich won several awards and trophies during his football career:

With Hertha BSC

• DFB-Ligapokal: 2002
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006

With Germany National Team

• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2008 (Germany finished second)
• FIFA World Cup third place: 2006, 2010 (Germany finished third)
• FIFA Confederations Cup third place: 2005 (Germany finished third)

See also

In Spanish: Arne Friedrich para niños