During the 2012 season with Toronto FC, Stefan Frei suffered a broken fibula and ligament damage that left him physically and mentally strained. While he attempted to make a comeback the following year, a broken nose found him as the new back-up goalkeeper. Someone who was once a consistent starter was now on the sidelines, and shortly after the 2013 season with the Canadian club, Frei was in search of a new place to call home.
Frei’s initial thoughts were to head back to a European club, but a conversation with Sounders Majority Owner Adrian Hanauer, former Head Coach Sigi Schmid and Club Director of Goalkeeping Tom Dutra changed the trajectory of that possible outcome.
“They were really excited about me, and at that point, it'd been a long time since someone was excited about me,” said Frei. “And so I think the mental side of the game gets neglected a lot. And so when you have people that believe in you, maybe at a point when you're struggling to believe in yourself, that got me super, super excited.”
11 seasons and eight trophies later, Frei is now one match away from reaching 400 appearances across all-competitions with the Sounders when the team faces St. Louis CITY SC on Saturday (7:30 p.m. PT; Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM).
“Longevity means that you're able to help the team and hopefully that means you can have chances to win trophies, and that's what it's all about,” said Frei. “So the longer you can play, the more likely they are to maybe win a trophy, right? So hopefully I can play a little bit longer, but yeah, I'm proud of that.”
Rather than letting the adversity he faced in Toronto let him falter, Frei used it as an incentive as he embarked on his journey with the Sounders.
“I remember some of those comments of being frail, and this and that, and I took that to heart…it motivated me.”
From the very beginning of his time in Seattle, he’s put his best foot forward in every training session all while putting in the extra work in ensuring his body is equipped to sustain a high level of performance come matchdays.
“Professionalism, consistency. That’s Stef Frei,” said Dutra. “He's out there every day, probably the hardest working guy most days. And he wants it every day. He doesn't take it for granted. He's not content with just an okay day. He wants more.”
His long tenured career at the club is a testament of not only the hard work and dedication he gives day-in and day-out, but the loyalty he has for those who go out of their way to support him.
“I think growing up, family meant everything to me, people that believe in me or give me a chance, or treat me with respect, I’d do anything for those people,” said Frei. “So I think it started right away again when the [Sounders] gave me the chance, and the way they thought of me was such a breath of fresh air. Made me feel really good, and especially realistic too. I knew that they weren't blowing smoke, but they saw things, and they knew that we needed to work to get back to those things. So I think that set that stage right away, where I'm like, ‘Okay, well, you believe in me. I'll believe in you, and I'll give back right away.’”
Upon reflection of the upcoming milestone, Frei described himself as feeling “happy and fortunate” to have been able to be at the organization for an extended period of time.
The coaching staff feel the same way.
“[I’m] just really proud of the person he is, the player he is, and how he carries himself and just really proud of the career he's had,” said Dutra. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that he'd win as much as he has here. When we got him here, I was like, ‘Okay, let's get to work,’ and I still treat it as such.”
“He's embraced that, and he leads by example.”
