Reto Ziegler facts for kids
Ziegler with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2012
|
||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 16 January 1986 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Geneva, Switzerland | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Left-back | |||||||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||||||
| Current club | Sion | |||||||||||||||
| Number | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Gland | |||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | Servette | |||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | US Terre Sainte | |||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Servette | |||||||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | Grasshoppers | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | Grasshoppers | 41 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | → Hamburger SV (loan) | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | → Wigan Athletic (loan) | 10 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2007 | → Sampdoria (loan) | 15 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2011 | Sampdoria | 127 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2015 | Juventus | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | → Fenerbahçe (loan) | 38 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | → Lokomotiv Moscow (loan) | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2013 | → Fenerbahçe (loan) | 16 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | → Sassuolo (loan) | 17 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Sion | 72 | (12) | |||||||||||||
| 2017 | Luzern | 9 | (2) | |||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | FC Dallas | 80 | (11) | |||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Lugano | 58 | (7) | |||||||||||||
| 2023– | Sion | 58 | (9) | |||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Switzerland U15 | 4 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | Switzerland U17 | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Switzerland U18 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | Switzerland U19 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2004–2009 | Switzerland U21 | 30 | (2) | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2014 | Switzerland | 35 | (1) | |||||||||||||
|
Honours
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Reto Pirmin Ziegler is a Swiss professional footballer. He was born on January 16, 1986. He plays as a left-back for the Swiss Super League club Sion.
Ziegler has played football in the top leagues of seven different countries. He also played 35 games for the Swiss national team. He represented Switzerland in the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.
Contents
Reto Ziegler's Football Journey
Starting His Career
Reto Ziegler began his professional career in Switzerland. In the summer of 2004, he signed with Tottenham Hotspur in England. He was supposed to join them in 2005, but the clubs agreed to an earlier transfer. So, Ziegler moved to Tottenham in August 2004.
Playing for Tottenham Hotspur
Even though he was only 18, Ziegler quickly started playing for Tottenham. He became an important player for the team. He often played as a left midfielder or a left full-back.
In his first season (2004–05), Ziegler played in 31 matches. He showed a lot of promise and got better as the season went on. Fans liked him because he was good at attacking from the left side. He scored his first professional goal against Everton in a 5–2 win. At the end of that season, he won the JSM Young Player of The Year award.
In 2005, Tottenham sent Ziegler on loan to Hamburger SV in Germany. He played 11 league games there. In January 2006, he returned to Tottenham. Then, he was loaned out again to another English club, Wigan Athletic. He played for Wigan until the end of the 2005–06 season. He also played in the 2006 League Cup Final.
Ziegler came back to Tottenham for the 2006–07 season. He played in a few matches before moving again. On January 31, 2007, he joined Sampdoria in Italy on loan.
Time at Sampdoria
Reto Ziegler played his first game for Sampdoria in February 2007. He scored his first goal for the club in April 2007. In May, Tottenham signed another left-back, so Ziegler decided to join Sampdoria permanently in July 2007.
At first, he did not always start games. But during the 2009–10 season, he became the main left-back. There were rumors that he might move to Juventus. However, he wanted to keep his spot at Sampdoria. He hoped this would help him get picked for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
His contract was set to end in June 2011. Sampdoria decided to sell some players, but Ziegler stayed. Unfortunately, the team did not play well and was moved down to a lower league (Serie B).
Moving to Juventus and Loan Spells
Ziegler joined Juventus for free on May 26, 2011. He signed a four-year contract with them.
However, he did not play any games for Juventus. Instead, he was loaned out to other clubs.
- On September 2, 2011, he was loaned to Fenerbahçe in Turkey for the 2011–12 season. He scored a goal in a big derby match against Galatasaray.
- After Fenerbahçe, Ziegler was loaned to Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia.
- He returned to Fenerbahçe on loan on January 31, 2013, for the rest of the 2012–13 season.
- On August 20, 2013, he was loaned to Sassuolo in Italy.
Returning to Switzerland and MLS
On February 2, 2015, Ziegler moved back to Switzerland. He joined Sion, signing a six-month contract. He later signed a new contract and played for Sion until the end of the 2016–17 season.
On January 2, 2018, Ziegler signed with FC Dallas in the MLS in the United States. He was the main left center-back for the team. He scored four goals in the 2018 season. His contract with FC Dallas ended after the 2020 season.
Recent Club History
On February 25, 2021, Ziegler joined FC Lugano in Switzerland.
Then, on December 25, 2022, he signed a new contract with Sion. This was his second time playing for the club.
Playing for Switzerland
Youth International Career
Reto Ziegler played for Switzerland's youth national teams. He was part of the Switzerland U-17 squad that won the 2002 U-17 European Championships. This was a big achievement for the young team.
Senior International Career
Ziegler made his first appearance for the senior Swiss national team on March 26, 2005. This was in a World Cup qualification match against France, which ended in a 0–0 draw.
For the Swiss U-21 team, he scored an important free-kick goal against the Netherlands in September 2008. This goal helped Switzerland move forward in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
On November 19, 2008, Ziegler scored his only goal for the senior Swiss team. It was a powerful shot against Finland that won the match 1–0.
He was chosen for the 2010 World Cup squad. He played all three group stage matches as a left-back. Switzerland did not make it out of their group that year. Ziegler was also selected for Switzerland's 2014 World Cup squad, but he did not play in any matches during that tournament.
Personal Life
Reto Ziegler's brother, Ronald, also played professional football.
Reto Ziegler married Elodie Rudaz, a former Swiss alpine skier, in June 2017. They have two daughters together.
Honours and Achievements
Reto Ziegler has won several trophies and awards during his career:
Grasshoppers
- Nationalliga A: 2003
Fenerbahçe
- Turkish Cup: 2011–12, 2012–13
Sion
- Swiss Cup: 2014–15
Lugano
- Swiss Cup: 2021–22
Switzerland U17
- UEFA U-17 European Champion: 2002
Individual Awards
- Swiss Super League Team of the Year: 2016–17
Images for kids
-
Ziegler with Fenerbahçe
See also
In Spanish: Reto Ziegler para niños
