Mario Frick (footballer)


Mario Frick is a Swiss-born Liechtensteiner retired professional footballer who is currently a manager for FC Vaduz. He has earned 125 caps and scored a national record 16 goals for his country from his international debut in 1993 until his retirement in 2015. Mainly a striker, Frick was also deployed as a centre-back on occasion.

Club career

Early career

Born in Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland, Frick started his career with the youth team at Liechtensteiner club FC Balzers, in which he then played four seasons in the first team within the early 1990s.
In 1994, Frick played abroad for the first time, signing with FC St. Gallen. After successful spells with FC Basel and FC Zürich, Frick began catching the eyes of scouts from some of the best leagues in the world, including the Serie A in neighboring Italy.

Italy

signed him head of the 2000–01 Serie C season, where he scored an impressive 16 goals in just 23 matches. Frick began has the distinction of being the first ever Liechtensteiner to play professionally in Italy.
After his debut season with Arezzo, Frick was signed a contract with the then Serie A team Hellas Verona.
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. He would play alongside other promising youth including Alberto Gilardino, Adrian Mutu, Mauro Camoranesi, Sebastien Frey, Martin Laursen, Massimo Oddo, and Marco Cassetti; all of whom would both go on to have successful careers.
However, after the club failed to keep their top-flight status after a three-year stay in the Serie A, as they were relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season.
Frick signed with fellow Serie B side Ternana on 25 August 2002. Upon his move to Ternana, he was described as a player with "pace and predatory instincts make him a danger inside the penalty area and he has proved he can score against tough opponents."
On 8 January 2006, Frick extended his contract with Ternana until June 2009. Frick would go on to leave Ternana at the end of the 2005–06 seson following their relegation from Serie B. Frick played four seasons with Ternana, amassing a total of 133 league games and scored 44 goals; both were personal records for Frick at a single club.
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 at the expiry of his contract.

Later career

On 22 June 2009, FC St. Gallen signed the Liechtensteiner forward on a free transfer until June 2010.
Following his spell with St. Gallen, Frick moved onto Grasshoppers in January 2011.
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 2015–16 season at the age of 41.

International career

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. He went on to score his first goal for the national team in a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Romania in September 1997.
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.
On 10 August 2011, Frick made a record 100th appearance for Liechtenstein.
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. He made his final international appearance for Liechtenstein in a 3–0 defeat to Austria in a European qualifying match on 12 October 2015.
Frick is the all-time record goal-scorer for Liechtenstein.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
16 September 1997Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein1–71–81998 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
214 October 1998Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–02–1UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying
37 June 2000Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany2–22–8Friendly match
421 August 2002Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands1–01–3Friendly match
520 August 2003Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–02–2Friendly match
613 October 2004Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg3–04–02006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
717 November 2004Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–11–32006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
87 September 2005Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–03–02006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
96 September 2006Ullevi Stadion, Gothenburg, Sweden1–11–3UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
106 October 2006Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–01–2Friendly match
1128 March 2007Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–01–0UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
1222 August 2007Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–31–3UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
1317 October 2007Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–03–0UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
146 June 2009Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland1–01–22010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
157 September 2010Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–01–2UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying
1617 November 2010A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia1–01–1Friendly match

Managerial career

On 17 September 2018, Frick was appointed manager of FC Vaduz. In his first season at the club, Frick led the club to a world record 47th Liechtenstein Football Cup title with a 3–2 win over FC Ruggell on 1 May 2019. In January 2020 his contract was extended until summer 2021.

Personal life

Frick's sons, Yanik and Noah, are also a professional footballers and both internationals for the Liechtenstein national football team.

Honours

As a player

Balzers
FC Zürich
Individual
FC Vaduz