Mario Frick (footballer)

Mario Frick (born 7 September 1974) is a Swiss-born retired Liechtensteiner football striker, who is currently the manager for the Liechtensteiner side FC Balzers in the Swiss 1st League. He has 125 caps and 16 goals for his country since his international debut in 1993, both national records.

Liechtenstein

Born in Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland, Frick started his career with the youth team at Liechtensteiner club FC Balzers, in which he then played 4 seasons in the first team within the early 1990s.

Switzerland

In 1994, he played abroad for the first time in his career. The destination was the country where he has half-citizenship, Switzerland.

Each FC St. Gallen, FC Basel, and FC Zürich once experienced his services.

He played there until the turning of the millennium, which marked a giant leap in his career by moving to one of the best football leagues in the world, the Italian Serie A.

Italy

Arezzo

He began his Italian journey by holding the status of the first Liechtensteiner to play in Italy.

A.C. Arezzo signed him to play the 2000–01 season, where he scored an impressive 16 goals in just 23 matches.

Hellas Verona

Frick's adventure in the country's top flight began when he signed a contract with the then Serie A team Hellas Verona F.C.

It was under the management of Italian manager Alberto Malesani, who employed a 3–4–3 attacking formation, with Frick being one of the three forwards in the manager's tactics. His two partners in attack were the future big-names, Adrian Mutu (currently playing for ASA Tärgu Mureș), and Mauro Camoranesi (later signed by Juventus, now playing for Club Atlético Lanús).

However, after the club's three-year stay in Serie A since 1999, their last stint ended in 2002. Verona was relegated to Serie B.

Frick and other international talents such as Adrian Mutu, Mauro Camoranesi, Alberto Gilardino, Martin Laursen, Massimo Oddo, Marco Cassetti and coach Alberto Malesani failed to keep the club in the top flight.

At the end of the 2001–02 season, he signed with another Serie B team Ternana Calcio.

Ternana

With Ternana, Frick played a total of 133 games, with 44 goals scored, a personal record for Frick in terms of goals and appearances for a single club. He stayed for 4 seasons at the club, before Ternana's relegation from Serie B in 2006.

Siena

Frick moved to A.C. Siena in July 2006.

He wore the number 7 as one of the club's starting formation, playing in the Serie A once again.

In May 2009, he left Siena.

Return to Switzerland

St. Gallen

On 22 June 2009, FC St. Gallen signed the Liechtensteiner forward on a free transfer until June 2010.

Grasshopper Club Zürich

Following a year and a half long stint with St. Gallen, Frick moved onto Grasshopper Club Zürich in January 2011.

Return to Liechtenstein

FC Balzers

Frick decided to end his professional career and go part-time, returning to his first club FC Balzers in July 2011. Frick retired as a player following the 2015-2016 season.

Frick made his Liechtenstein debut in October 1993 in a friendly against Estonia, and established himself almost immediately as a key player for the Liechtenstein national football team. Frick had a falling out with both the national coach, Ralf Loose, and the Liechtenstein Football Association near the end of the 2002 World Cup qualification stages, and he was left out of the team. This episode is chronicled in Charlie Connelly's book, Stamping Grounds: Liechtenstein's Quest for the World Cup. After changes concerning both the Liechtenstein Football Association and the coach, Frick returned to be part of the squad, which included playing in both games against England.

During a Euro 2008 qualifier against Latvia, Frick netted the only goal of the game which brought Liechtenstein their first win over a side that had qualified for a major tournament.

Frick announced his retirement from international football in October 2015, at the age of 41, after 125 appearances and 16 goals for the Liechtenstein national side, both of which are national team records. He made his final international appearance for Liechtenstein in a 3–0 defeat to Austria in a European qualifying match on 12 October 2015.

• Liechtenstein score first

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	6 September 1997	Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein	Romania	1–7	1–8	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
2.	14 October 1998	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Azerbaijan	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying
3.	7 June 2000	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany	Germany	2–2	2–8	Friendly match
4.	21 August 2002	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	1–0	1–3	Friendly match
5.	20 August 2003	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	San Marino	1–0	2–2	Friendly match
6.	13 October 2004	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	3–0	4–0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
7.	17 November 2004	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Latvia	1–1	1–3	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
8.	7 September 2005	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Luxembourg	1–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
9.	6 September 2006	Ullevi Stadion, Gothenburg, Sweden	Sweden	1–1	1–3	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
10.	6 October 2006	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Austria	1–0	1–2	Friendly match
11.	28 March 2007	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Latvia	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
12.	22 August 2007	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–3	1–3	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
13.	17 October 2007	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Iceland	1–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
14.	6 June 2009	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–0	1–2	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
15.	7 September 2010	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–0	1–2	UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying
16.	17 November 2010	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	1–0	1–1	Friendly match
Correct as of 10 June 2015

Individual

• Liechtensteiner Footballer of the Year: 1993–94, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2006–07

• "Die Bisherigen Fussballer des Jahres" (in German). Fussballer des Jahres. Retrieved 4 December 2008.