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Through Frick and thin |
| FIFA.com |
The name Mario Frick is unlikely to figure on most football fans' Player of the Year lists, yet at 32 the Siena hitman is emerging as the revelation of the Italian season so far.
Second on the Serie A scoring charts with four strikes under his belt, the Liechtenstein forward's performances have not only come as a surprise but have helped his unfancied club climb to seventh in the standings. FIFA.com takes a closer look at the man who is little known abroad, but a genuine star to the 34,000 inhabitants of his tiny homeland (160km²).
According to Frick himself, his destiny was mapped out long ago. "I could only ever become a footballer because the family I grew up in were all passionate about the game," he recalls. "My eight uncles were all pretty zealous amateurs and now they like to claim they taught me how to play! (laughs) My passion was so strong, though, that my studies definitely suffered as a result. Every spare moment I had, I would practice football, think about it and live it. I basically learnt how to play in my aunt's garden and in the street."
From those beginnings, the young Frick took his first steps in the senior game with FC Balzers (Liechtenstein) in 1991, and he got a taste of the UEFA European Cup Winners Cup against CSKA Sofia in the 1993-94 season (0-8; 1-3). The following year, he joined Saint-Gallen and plundered 11 goals for the Swiss outfit in two years, before moving to FC Basle and finding the back of the net 30 times between 1996 and 1999.
Italian adventure
Clearly enjoying life in Switzerland, Frick next set down his bags at FC Zurich, for whom he struck seven goals in 28 matches.
 | | A hero in his native Liechtenstein, Mario Frick is now carving out an impressive reputation in Italy's Serie A thanks to his goalscoring exploits in the colours of Siena. (Photo: Frederick Florin) |
By that time, he had already broken onto the international stage, having won his first cap as a 19-year-old in the 4-1 loss to Northern Ireland on 20 April 1994. The only professional in the Liechtenstein squad, Frick rapidly became a star at home, and played a front-line role in his country's first ever competitive victory: a 2-1 win over Azerbaijan in a UEFA EURO 2000 qualifier in 1999.
The scouts really began to take interest a year later, however, when, on 8 June 2000, Liechtenstein were to be found holding the mighty Germany to a 2-2 draw with half an hour remaining, thanks to a goal and assist from their powerful forward. The European minnows eventually crumbled to an 8-2 defeat, yet Frick had left his mark in memorable fashion.
His next port of call was Italy, where his adventure in the Campionato began with third-division Arezzo in October 2000. It was to be his most prolific campaign - worth 16 goals, including a decisive brace on his debut against Lucchese (2-1) - so it came as little surprise when top-flight Verona offered him the chance to test his talents in Serie A.
That initial introduction proved a struggle, though, and after netting just twice in 24 encounters Frick dropped a division to sign for Ternana. Three seasons and 44 goals later, he was back among the elite - this time with Siena, who swooped to claim his signature in summer 2006.
Having taken such a circuitous road to the top, Frick unsurprisingly considers himself, "the happiest man in the world today." Married to Isabelle, a Swiss nurse he first met when scheduled for a groin operation, he is also the proud father of two children: Yanik and Noah, both named after his idol, the French former tennis player Yannick Noah.
With so much going his way on and off the pitch, the uncomplicated striker is relishing every minute at an age when many forwards are starting to contemplate hanging up their boots. Thoughts of retiring could not be further from Frick's mind, and while it may be difficult to rival the contentment of a footballer in peak form, his current flourish has given Siena's fans and officials much to smile about themselves.
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| Quotes | Heres tae the fool on the hill and his pals that are down in the valley.- Wolfstone, Glass and the Can
He thought the formula for water was H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O (H-to-O).
He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts — for support rather than illumination. — Andrew Lang.
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