Clemens Fritz (born 7 December 1980) is a German former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played as a
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
and as a
defensive midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...
. He is mostly known for his 11-year spell at
Werder Bremen
Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...
.
Having begun his career at
Rot-Weiß Erfurt and
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...
, he joined
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...
in 2003, playing sparingly across his three seasons at the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
club. In 2006, he moved to Werder Bremen, winning the
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
and helping them to the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
final in 2009. Across all competitions, he has played over 300 matches for Bremen.
In a two-year international career for
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
starting in 2006, he earned 22 caps and scored two goals. He was part of their team which finished as runners-up at
UEFA Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...
.
He announced his retirement at the end of the 2016–17 season.
Club career
Rot-Weiß Erfurt
Born in
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
, then in
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, Fritz started his footballing career playing for hometown club
Rot-Weiß Erfurt in the
Regionalliga.
Karlsruher SC
In the summer of 2001, he joined
2. Bundesliga
The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
club
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...
and scored five goals in 32 games. When he was signed by
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...
in 2003, he was loaned back to Karlsruhe to play first team football.
Bayer Leverkusen
He became part of Leverkusen's first team in the 2003–04 season second half after showing his capabilities for their reserve team. Fritz played 14 more first team games for Leverkusen that season, gaining them a
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
place. In 2004, he broke his leg during a pre-season game against
Rot-Weiss Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...
, ruling him out the entire season.
Werder Bremen
In 2006, Fritz joined
Werder Bremen
Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...
on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract.
He announced his retirement at the end of the 2015–16 season on 14 January 2016, but signed a new one-year contract on 28 April 2016.
On 4 March 2017, in a match against
Darmstadt 98, he suffered an ankle injury and underwent surgery, which ruled him out for the rest of the 2016–17 season. On 8 May 2017, he announced the end of his playing career.
International career
Having played for the Germany U-18s and U-21s, Fritz debuted with the
senior team on 7 October 2006, playing the entirety of a 2–0 friendly win over
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
at the
Ostseestadion
The Ostseestadion is the home stadium of FC Hansa Rostock, a German association football club, located in the city of Rostock. It has a capacity of 29,000.
"Ostseestadion" translates in English to "Baltic Sea Stadium", and is named after the Ba ...
in
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...
.
On 2 June of the following year, he scored his first international goal, concluding a 6–0 rout of minnows
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
in
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, eight minutes after entering as a substitute. He added a second on 17 November, opening a 4–0 win over
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 ge ...
in another qualifier in
Hannover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
by heading in
Lukas Podolski
Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive ...
's cross after two minutes.
Fritz was selected in the 23-man squad for the
European Championship in Austria and
Switzerland in 2008. He played in the first four of their six games as they reached the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
before defeat to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fritz goal''.
[
]
Honours
Werder Bremen
*Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
runner-up: 2007–08
*DFL-Ligapokal
The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous B ...
: 2006
*DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
: 2008–09; runner-up 2009–10
*UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
: runner-up 2008–09
Germany U16
* UEFA European Under-16 Championship
The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA.
Spain national under ...
third place: 1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
Germany
*UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
runner-up: 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
References
External links
*
*
*
Leverkusen who's who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz, Clemens
Living people
1980 births
Sportspeople from Erfurt
Association football wingers
Association football fullbacks
UEFA Euro 2008 players
German footballers
Germany international footballers
Germany under-21 international footballers
Germany B international footballers
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Regionalliga players
FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt players
Karlsruher SC players
Bayer 04 Leverkusen players
SV Werder Bremen players
Footballers from Thuringia