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| Date of Birth: | November 22, 1976 | |
| Place of Birth: | Würselen, Germany | |
| Height: | 182cm | |
| Weight: | 80 kg | |
| Position: | Midfielder | |
| Country: | Germany | |
| Club: | Werder Bremen | |
Torsten Frings (born November 22, 1976 in Würselen) is a German football midfielder who currently plays for Werder Bremen of the German Bundesliga.
Before joining Werder, Frings played for Alemannia Aachen (1994-97), Werder Bremen (1997-2002), Borussia Dortmund (2002-04), and Bayern Munich (2004-05). For the German national team, he played in the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.
Career
His professional career began at third division Alemannia Aachen before a move to Werder Bremen in 1996/97, helping the Weserstadion outfit to a German Cup final defeat of Bayern Munich in 1999 and tallying more than 160 Bundesliga appearances and 15 goals over six seasons.
In 2002, a number of Europe's leading clubs were on Frings's trail prior to the World Cup but he opted for a four-year deal with Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of €10m, penning the contract two games into the competition. A regular in his first term at the Westfalenstadion, Frings also played 12 times in the UEFA Champions League, scoring home and away against Lokomotiv Moscow.
Frings's 2003/04 season only began on 30 January when he played against FC Schalke 04, his first game since damaging his knee against VfL Bochum in July. He took over from Tomáš Rosický in the playmaking role and scored four times in 16 games before signing a three-year contract with Dortmund's chief rivals, Bayern Munich.
Despite winning the domestic double with Bayern and making 29 Bundesliga and ten Champions League appearances, Frings never really enjoyed his football in Munich, and was played out of position by coach Felix Magath. In June he rejoined Bremen for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal, helping them past FC Basel into the Champions League group stage.
Player profile
Frings is an all-action, versatile midfielder, considered by many to be the best in the national team together with Michael Ballack. He can play any where across midfield, although he is most comfortable running deep from own team's box to opposition's box. He is expected to anchor the German midfield with Ballack in the 2006 World Cup.
Trivia
- Frings is a natural center midfielder, but played a the multitude of positions before in his career:
- As a young rookie in Aachen, he played striker alongside veteran Marcus Feinbier.
- In his first Bremen stint under Felix Magath, he mostly played right wing.
- When Thomas Schaaf took over in Bremen, he played center midfield.
- In the 2002 World Cup, trainer Rudi Völler played him as right half-back.
- His Ruhr derby comeback against Schalke in January 2004 was watched by a Bundesliga record crowd of 83,000.
Personal
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- Torsten Frings is married to Petra and they have two children, Lisa-Katharina and Lena.
- He considers Muhammad Ali as the greatest sportsperson of all time and thinks Brazilians Ronaldo and Kaká are two of the best players in the world at the moment.
- His favourite food is pasta and he enjoys listening to hip hop.