Remo Freuler

Remo Freuler

Freuler in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Remo Marco Freuler [1]
Date of birth	(1992-04-15) 15 April 1992 (age 32) [1]
Place of birth	Ennenda, Switzerland
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) [2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Bologna
Number	8
Youth career
2001–2005	Hinwil
2005–2010	Winterthur
2010–2011	Grasshoppers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	Winterthur	2	(0)
2010–2011	Grasshoppers	12	(1)
2011–2014	Winterthur	70	(8)
2014–2016	Luzern	63	(9)
2016–2022	Atalanta	203	(18)
2022–2024	Nottingham Forest	28	(0)
2023–2024	→ Bologna (loan)	32	(1)
2024–	Bologna	0	(0)
International career‡
2010–2011	Switzerland U19	4	(2)
2013–2014	Switzerland U21	8	(1)
2017–	Switzerland	72	(9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:29, 20 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:09, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Remo Marco Freuler (born 15 April 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Bologna and the Switzerland national team. He has also been part of Switzerland U19 and U21 teams.

Club career

Freuler began his youth career with FC Hinwil and moved to fellow Zürich side FC Winterthur in 2005. Freuler made his professional debut with Winterthur at the age of 18 in 2010, making two substitute appearances at the end of the 2009–10 Swiss Challenge League. That summer, Freuler was transferred to Grasshopper Club Zürich, where he spent most of the season with the under-21 side. He did spend a stint with the professional club toward the beginning of the Super League season, and got on the scoresheet against rivals FC Zürich. Freuler was frozen out of the team the following season, and was loaned back to Winterthur in the winter break. ^[3]

Winterthur

Freuler joined a Winterthur side in tenth place in the Challenge League after the first half of the season, just two points above the relegation zone. He made 14 appearances that season for Winterthur, highlighted by his first career goals for the club in the form of a brace against Kriens on 4 March 2012, and Winterthur finished in fourth place. Freuler started all but two games in the 2012–13 season as Winterthur finished in third. Freuler's contract with Winterthur was made permanent in the summer, and he made 21 more appearances with the club the next season before moving to Super League side FC Luzern.

Luzern

On 18 February 2014, Freuler was transferred to Luzern, and he made his club debut on 2 March against St. Gallen under manager Carlos Bernegger. Freuler scored his first goal for the club against Young Boys on 6 April, and Luzern finished the 2013–14 season in fourth place.

Freuler scored seven goals and provided five assists the following season for Luzern, who made a resurgence under new manager Markus Babbel following a mid-season sacking of Bernegger and finishing the first half of the season bottom of the table. Freuler started every game of the new season under Babbel before being transferred to Italian club Atalanta B.C.

Atalanta

Freuler captaining Atalanta in 2020

On 19 January 2016, Freuler moved to Atalanta for a €2 million transfer fee, and he made his Serie A debut on 7 February against Empoli. After being substituted off against Sampdoria the next week, Freuler was an unused substitute by manager Edy Reja the next seven matches until making his return to the starting eleven two months later against Roma. ^[3] After the match, an Italian journalist gave him the nickname Iceman, which Freuler said was "because I was so calm on the ball". ^[4] He scored his first goal for the Bergamo side on 2 May against eventual runners-up Napoli.

Freuler made 29 starts in the 2016–17 season, in which Atalanta finished fourth in the table, a nine place improvement under first-year manager Gian Piero Gasperini. Atalanta also qualified for the group stages of the Europa League for the first time since 1990. Freuler found his name on the scoresheet five times, and also provided four assists. On 28 April, Freuler scored a late equaliser at home to eventual champions Juventus, derailing their chance to clinch the Scudetto that weekend. ^[5]

Freuler made his first Europa League group stage appearance against English side Everton, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory over the Toffees. He had previously played in a second round qualification two-legged tie against Scottish club St Johnstone for Luzern. He opened his scoring account in the 2017–18 season with Atalanta against Fiorentina, scoring an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time on 24 September 2017. ^[6]

Nottingham Forest

On 14 August 2022, Freuler joined newly-promoted Premier League club Nottingham Forest, leaving Atalanta after six and a half seasons. ^[7]

Bologna

On 1 September 2023, Freuler returned to Italy and joined Serie A club Bologna on loan with a conditional obligation to buy, ^{[8] [9]} as part of a swap deal that saw Nicolás Domínguez join Premier League side Nottingham Forest. ^[9]

International career

Freuler came through the youth setup in Switzerland before being called up to the senior squad for the first time during Switzerland's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. He made his debut for the Nati as an 84th-minute substitute for Haris Seferovic in a 1–0 win over Latvia on 25 March 2017. ^[10]

He was included in Switzerland's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, ^[11] where he was an unused substitute in all four matches as the Swiss reached the round of 16. ^[12]

On 26 March 2019, Freuler scored his first goal for Switzerland in a 3–3 draw with Denmark during UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. ^[13]

In May 2019, he played in the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished fourth. ^[14]

Freuler was named in the 26-man Swiss squad for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020, ^[15] where he started all five matches for the Nati. On 2 July 2021, in the quarter-final against Spain, he contributed the assist for Xherdan Shaqiri's equalizing goal, but was later sent off in the 77th minute following a decision many pundits thought was too harsh. ^[16] The match ended 1–1 and went to a penalty shoot-out, in which Spain progressed to the semi-finals. ^[17]

Freuler was named in Switzerland's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, making his 50th appearance for the national team and first at a World Cup finals in the team's opening match against Cameroon on 24 November 2022. ^[18] In the team's final Group G match, he scored the winning goal of a 3–2 win against Serbia to qualify the Nati for the knockout stage. ^[19]

On 7 June 2024, Freuler was named in the Swiss squad for UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. ^[20] He started the team's opening match against Hungary, assisting Michel Aebischer's goal in the 3–1 win. ^[21] In the round 16 match against Italy, he scored his first goal in the European competition in a 2–0 victory, contributing to his country's first win over their opponent since 1993. ^[22]

Style of play

Freuler mainly plays as a central midfielder for club and country. He is considered an effective and versatile player who recovers the ball, tackles well and has a good range of passing. Il Giorno correspondent Fabrizio Carcano described him as "the conductor of the orchestra" due to his high footballing intelligence. ^[23]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 May 2024 ^[24]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Winterthur U21	2008–09	Swiss 1. Liga	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2009–10		9	2	—		—		—		9	2
	Total		10	2	—		—		—		10	2
Winterthur	2009–10	Swiss Challenge League	2	0	0	0	—		—		2	0
Grasshoppers U21	2010–11	Swiss 1. Liga	19	7	—		—		—		19	7
	2011–12		5	1	—		—		—		5	1
	Total		24	8	—		—		—		24	8
Grasshoppers	2010–11	Swiss Super League	5	1	2	1	—		0	0	7	2
	2011–12		7	0	2	1	—		—		9	1
	Total		12	1	4	2	—		0	0	16	3
Winterthur	2011–12	Swiss Challenge League	14	2	1	0	—		—		15	2
	2012–13		35	3	2	1	—		—		37	4
	2013–14		21	3	1	0	—		—		22	3
	Total		72	8	4	1	—		—		76	9
Winterthur U21	2013–14	Swiss 1. Liga	1	1	—		—		—		1	1
Luzern	2013–14	Swiss Super League	12	1	1	0	—		—		13	1
	2014–15		33	7	3	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	38	7
	2015–16		18	1	4	0	—		—		22	1
	Total		63	9	8	0	—		2	0	73	9
Atalanta	2015–16	Serie A	6	1	0	0	—		—		6	1
	2016–17		33	5	2	0	—		—		35	5
	2017–18		35	5	3	0	—		8 [lower-alpha 3]	1	46	6
	2018–19		35	2	4	0	—		5 [lower-alpha 3]	0	44	2
	2019–20		31	2	1	0	—		8 [lower-alpha 4]	1	40	3
	2020–21		34	2	5	0	—		7 [lower-alpha 4]	0	46	2
	2021–22		29	1	2	0	—		12 [lower-alpha 5]	1	43	2
	Total		203	18	17	0	—		40	3	260	21
Nottingham Forest	2022–23	Premier League	28	0	0	0	5	0	—		33	0
Bologna (loan)	2023–24	Serie A	32	1	2	0	—		—		34	1
Career total			445	48	35	3	5	0	42	3	527	54

1. Includes Swiss Cup, Coppa Italia
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Six appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 6 July 2024 ^[25]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Switzerland	2017	7	0
	2018	7	0
	2019	7	1
	2020	4	2
	2021	15	1
	2022	13	2
	2023	10	2
	2024	9	1
Total		72	9

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Freuler goal. ^[26]

List of international goals scored by Remo Freuler

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 March 2019	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	Denmark	1–0	3–3	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
2	13 October 2020	RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany	Germany	2–0	3–3	2020–21 UEFA Nations League A
3	14 November 2020	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	Spain	1–0	1–1	2020–21 UEFA Nations League A
4	15 November 2021	Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland	Bulgaria	4–0	4–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	27 September 2022	Kybunpark, St. Gallen, Switzerland	Czech Republic	1–0	2–1	2022–23 UEFA Nations League A
6	2 December 2022	Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar	Serbia	3–2	3–2	2022 FIFA World Cup
7	16 June 2023	Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
8	9 September 2023	Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Pristina, Kosovo	Kosovo	1–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
9	29 June 2024	Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany	Italy	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2024

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Switzerland" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
2. "Remo Freuler". Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
3. Arn, Martin (25 April 2017). "Freuler herrscht! Mamma mia – ein Nati-Neuling mischt Italien auf". Blick.
4. Tedesco, Eva (8 November 2016). "In Italien nennen sie ihn "Iceman"" [In Italy they call him "Iceman"]. 20 Minuten .
5. "Late Remo Freuler goal gets Atalanta a point and denies Serie A leaders Juventus". Eurosport. 29 April 2017.
6. "Fiorentina vs. Atalanta - 24 September 2017 - Soccerway".
7. "Nottingham Forest FC – Remo Freuler signs for The Reds". Nottingham Forest F.C. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
8. "Freuler al Bologna" [Freuler at Bologna] (in Italian). Bologna. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
9. "Freuler arriva al Bologna, Dominguez al Nottingham". ANSA (in Italian). 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
10. "Remo Freuler - Porträt". Fussball-Schweiz (in German). Retrieved 16 June 2024.
11. "- The Washington Post". The Washington Post .
12. "2018 FIFA World Cup Squad: Switzerland". ESPN. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
13. "Vom 3-0 zum 3-3 gegen Dänemark: Schweiz verspielt sicher geglaubten Sieg". SRF Sport (in German). 26 March 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
14. "Pickford the hero in England shootout win". BBC Sport.
15. The Athletic Staff. "Switzerland's full 26-man Euro 2020 squad". The Athletic. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
16. Barker, Gabby (3 July 2021). "The controversy of Switzerland-Spain: it is just the direct red to Freuler". Sports Finding. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
17. "Spain beat Switzerland on penalties to reach Euros semis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
18. "Loan Watch: Reds feature in World Cup opening games". Nottingham Forest. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
19. "World Cup 2022: Serbia 2-3 Switzerland - Swiss through after exciting victory". BBC Sport. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
20. "Switzerland announce 26-man squad for Euro 2024". Reuters. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
21. "Hungary 1-3 Switzerland LIVE: UEFA Euro 2024 - score, updates & reaction". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
22. Murray, Miranda (29 June 2024). "Swiss coach Yakin to enjoy Italy win before quarter-final challenge". Reuters.
23. "Are Liverpool set to face Europe's most underrated player?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
24. "R. Freuler". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
25. "Remo Freuler". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
26. "Remo Freuler". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 30 March 2019.

External links

• Profile at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website
• Remo Freuler at Soccerway