Clemens Fritz

Clemens Fritz

Fritz playing for Werder in 2009.
Personal information
Date of birth	(1980-12-07) 7 December 1980
Place of birth	Erfurt, East Germany
Height
Position(s)	Right back
Team information
Current team	Werder Bremen
Number	8
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2001	Rot-Weiß Erfurt	57	(14)
2001–2003	Karlsruher SC	61	(7)
2003–2006	Bayer Leverkusen	43	(2)
2006–	Werder Bremen	270	(5)
International career‡
2001	Germany U-21	1	(0)
2002	Germany Team 2006	1	(0)
2006–2008	Germany	22	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 May 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:43, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Clemens Fritz (born 7 December 1980) is a German footballer who plays as a right back for Werder Bremen.

Having begun his career at Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Karlsruher SC, he joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2003, playing sparingly across his three seasons at the Bundesliga club. In 2006 he moved to Werder Bremen, winning the DFB-Pokal and helping them to the UEFA Cup final in 2009. Across all competitions, he has played over 300 matches for Bremen.

In a two-year international career for Germany 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.

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.

Club career

Rot-Weiß Erfurt

Born in Erfurt, then in East Germany, 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 club Karlsruher SC and scored five goals in 32 games. When he was signed by Bayer Leverkusen 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 place. In 2004, he broke his leg during a pre-season game against Rot-Weiss Essen, ruling him out the entire season.

Werder Bremen

In 2006, Fritz joined Werder Bremen on a free transfer signing a three-year contract.

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 at the Ostseestadion in Rostock.

On 2 June of the following year, he scored his first international goal, concluding a 6–0 rout of minnows San Marino in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying in Nuremberg, eight minutes after entering as a substitute. He added a second on 17 November, opening a 4–0 win over Cyprus in another qualifier in Hannover by heading in Lukas Podolski'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 before defeat to Spain.

International goals

Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2 June 2007	Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany	San Marino	6–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2.	17 November 2007	AWD Arena, Hannover, Germany	Cyprus	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Career statistics

Club

As of 14 May 2016.

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	2000–01	Regionalliga Süd	32	10	1	0	–		33	10
Karlsruher SC	2001–02	2. Bundesliga	31	5	1	0	–		32	5
	2002–03		30	2	1	0	–		31	2
	Total		61	7	2	0	–		63	7
Bayer Leverkusen	2003–04	Bundesliga	14	1	1	0	–		15	1
	2004–05		0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	2005–06		29	1	1	0	2	0	32	0
	Total		43	2	2	0	3	0	48	2
Werder Bremen	2006–07	Bundesliga	32	1	0	0	12	1	44	2
	2007–08		23	1	0	0	8	0	31	1
	2008–09		24	0	6	0	12	0	42	0
	2009–10		30	1	6	0	18	0	54	1
	2010–11		29	0	2	0	6	1	37	1
	2011–12		32	1	1	0	–		33	1
	2012–13		22	0	1	0	–		23	0
	2013–14		22	0	1	0	–		23	0
	2014–15		27	0	3	1	–		30	1
	2015–16		29	1	4	0	–		33	1
	Total		270	5	24	1	56	2	350	8
Career total			406	24	29	1	59	2	494	27

International

Germany
Year	Apps	Goals
2006	3	0
2007	8	2
2008	11	0
Total	22	2

Honours

Club

Werder Bremen

• Bundesliga Runner-up: 2007–08
• DFL-Ligapokal: 2006
• DFB-Pokal: 2008–09, Runner-up: 2009–10
• UEFA Cup: Runner-up: 2008–09

International

Germany

• UEFA European Football Championship Runner-up: 2008

External links

• Leverkusen who's who
• Clemens Fritz profile at Fussballdaten