Alain Nef (born 6 February 1982) is a retired Swiss

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender. He last played for

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

Career

Alain Nef played in the youth teams of Wädenswil and

where he started his professional career in 2001. He won the Swiss Super League with Zürich in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. After that he moved to Piacenza Calcio. After two seasons with Piacenza he moved to

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Football in Italy, Italian association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a ...

in 2008. On 14 January 2009, Nef went on loan to Spanish club Recreativo de Huelva. In summer 2009 he was loaned out to Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

side

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...

. He made his league debut for the club on 21 August 2009 in a 0–0 away draw with

AC Mantova Mantova 1911 Società a Responsabilità Limitata (Mantova 1911 s.r.l.), commonly referred to as Mantova, is an Italian football club based in Mantua ( it, Mantova), Lombardy. Mantova had played consecutively in the Italian Serie B from the 200 ...

. He played all ninety minutes of the match. He scored his first league goal for the club just eight days later in a 1–0 home victory over Grosseto. His goal was scored in the 30th minute. In November 2010,

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

bought him outright and agreed a new contract which last until 30 June 2015. He made his league debut for the club on 12 September 2010 in a 2–2 home draw with

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

. He was subbed on in the 38th minute for

Emiliano Dudar Emiliano Ariel Dudar (born 12 August 1981) is a retired Argentine central defender. Career Born in Buenos Aires, Dudar began his career in the youth ranks of Velez Sarsfield and made his First Division debut in 2000. During his debut season he ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club on 12 December 2010 in a 1–1 home draw with St. Gallen. His goal, scored in the 89th minute, made the score 1–1. In July 2013, Nef was sold back to

for €200,000. His first league appearance upon returning to the club came on 14 July 2013 in a 3–2 home victory over

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league system, following relegation from the Swiss Super League in the ...

. He played all ninety minutes of the match and picked up a yellow card in the 88th minute. He scored his first league goal upon returning to the club on 4 August 2013 in a 3–1 home defeat to his former club

. His goal, scored in the 60th minute, made the score 2–1. With Zürich he won the Swiss Cup three times: in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. On 23 May 2019, Nef announced his retirement from professional football.

International

He made his senior

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

international debut against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

on 20 August 2008.

Style of play

Nef played as a striker in his youth. After that, he played as a winger and then a defender. He lists his position as right-back and his main strength as ball control.

Honors

Club

FC Zürich *

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

: 2005–06 * Challenge League: 2016–17 *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

(4): 2004–05, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18

References

External links

* *
FC Zurich Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nef, Alain 1982 births Living people Men's association football defenders Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's international footballers FC Zürich players FC Winterthur players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players Udinese Calcio players Recreativo de Huelva players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players BSC Young Boys players Swiss Super League players Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Swiss expatriate men's footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Spain People from Wädenswil Footballers from the canton of Zürich