Kevin Friesenbichler

Kevin Friesenbichler
Personal information
Full name Kevin Friesenbichler
Date of birth (1994-05-06) 6 May 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Weiz, Austria
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 DSV Leoben
Number 30
Youth career
2000–2008 SC Weiz
2008–2009 Austria Wien
2009–2010 Admira Mödling
2010–2012 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Bayern Munich II 34 (16)
2014–2017 Benfica B 0 (0)
2014–2015 → Lechia Gdańsk (loan) 17 (5)
2015–2016 → Austria Wien (loan) 31 (6)
2016–2017 → Austria Wien (loan) 32 (5)
2017–2019 Austria Wien 43 (10)
2019 → Wolfsberger AC (loan) 12 (2)
2019–2020 VfL Osnabrück 6 (0)
2020–2021 Sturm Graz 36 (4)
2021–2023 RFS 41 (11)
2023 Lechia Gdańsk 12 (0)
2023– DSV Leoben 24 (8)
International career
2009 Austria U16 6 (10)
2010 Austria U17 5 (3)
2011 Austria U18 2 (0)
2012 Austria U19 5 (3)
2013–2016 Austria U21 19 (8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2024

Kevin Friesenbichler (born 6 May 1994) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward for 2. Liga club DSV Leoben.

Club career

Born in Weiz, Friesenbichler joined local team SC Weiz at the age of five before joining Austrian giants FK Austria Wien in 2008. After a year he moved on to Admira Mödling and in 2010, he joined German heavyweight Bayern Munich. For the then 16-year-old Bayern even paid a transfer fee believed to be €500,000.[1] He enjoyed a debut hat-trick for their U17 side and spent subsequently three years playing for their U19 squad, scoring 27 goals in 37 appearances. His impressive form lead him to be promoted to FC Bayern Munich II for the 2012–13 Regionalliga season. However, it was the 2013–14 season that he arrived at the scene, scoring 15 goals in 22 appearances as Bayern Munich II topped their table.

On 22 May 2014, Friesenbichler signed a four-year deal with Portuguese champions Benfica on a free transfer.[2] On 26 July 2014, he scored his first goal for Benfica B on his debut in a friendly match win (4–3) against Ajax II.[3]

On 22 August 2014, after not even two months at Benfica, Friesenbichler was loaned to Polish side Lechia Gdańsk on a season-long deal. According to his father he wouldn't have had many chances to play for Benfica and was therefore looking to pick up match practice.[4] He made his professional debut on 31 August 2014 against Ruch Chorzów (3–3), also scoring his first goal in process.[5]

On 22 July 2015, Friesenbichler was loaned to Austria Wien for one season.[6] Exactly a year later, the loan was extended by a further season.[7] On 1 July 2017, he signed a permanent deal with the Austrian club.[8]

On 2 July 2019, Friesenbichler joined VfL Osnabrück on a two-year deal.[9]

In June 2023, Friesenbichler returned to Austria with DSV Leoben following a short spells in Latvia and Poland with RFS and Lechia Gdańsk respectively.[10]

International career

Friesenbichler with Austria U21 in 2016

On 14 August 2009, Friesenbichler made his debut for Austria U16 in an 8–0 victory over Liechtenstein U16, scoring 2 goals. He made his debut in competitive youth level international football on 18 November 2013 against Hungary in a 4–2 victory, in which he scored 1 goal.

Career statistics

As of match played 3 May 2024[11][12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bayern Munich II 2011–12 Regionalliga Bayern 0 0 — — — 0 0
2012–13 Regionalliga Bayern 12 1 — — — 12 1
2013–14 Regionalliga Bayern 22 15 — — 2[a] 0 24 15
Total 34 16 — — 2 0 36 16
Benfica 2014–15 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Lechia Gdańsk (loan) 2014–15 Ekstraklasa 17 5 0 0 — — 17 5
Austria Wien (loan) 2015–16 Austrian Bundesliga 31 6 4 4 — — 35 10
2016–17 Austrian Bundesliga 32 5 3 3 9[b] 2 — 44 10
Austria Wien 2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga 30 8 1 0 8[b] 1 — 39 9
2018–19 Austrian Bundesliga 13 2 3 2 — — 16 4
Total 106 21 11 9 17 3 0 0 134 33
Wolfsberger AC 2018–19 Austrian Bundesliga 12 2 0 0 — — 12 2
VfL Osnabrück 2019–20 2. Bundesliga 6 0 1 0 — — 7 0
Sturm Graz 2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga 12 0 1 0 — — 13 0
2020–21 Austrian Bundesliga 24 4 5 1 — — 29 5
Total 36 4 6 1 0 0 0 0 42 5
FK RFS 2021 Latvian Higher League 9 3 4 2 6[c] 1 — 19 6
2022 Latvian Higher League 32 8 1 0 11[d] 2 — 44 10
Total 41 11 5 2 17 3 0 0 63 16
Lechia Gdańsk 2022–23 Ekstraklasa 12 0 0 0 — — 12 0
DSV Leoben 2023–24 2. Liga 20 8 3 1 — — 23 9
Career Total 284 67 26 13 34 6 2 0 346 86
  1. ^ Appearances in the Regionalliga playoff
  2. ^ a b Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

RFS[13]

References

  1. ^ "Friesenbichler: "Das neue Sternchen des FC Bayern"" [Friesenbichler: "The new starlet of FC Bayern"] (in German). abendzeitung-muenchen.de. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  2. ^ ".: Kevin Friesenbichler assina pelas Águias – Jornal Record :". record.xl.pt. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  3. ^ Benfica 4–3 Ajax :: Pré-Época 2014/15 :: Ficha do Jogo :: zerozero.pt
  4. ^ "Leihe nach Polen: Kevin Friesenbichler wechselt von Benfica Lissabon zu Lechia Gdansk" [Loan to Poland: Kevin Friesenbichler transfers from Benfica Lissabon to Lechia Gdansk] (in German). sportnet.at. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Ekstraklasa Lechia Gdańsk Ruch Chorzów". Goal.com. 31 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Austria verpflichtet Kevin Friesenbichler" (in German). Austria Wien. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  7. ^ "FK Austria Wien - Kevin Friesenbichler stürmt wieder für den FK Austria Wien". www.fk-austria.at. Archived from the original on 22 July 2016.
  8. ^ "FK Austria Wien verpflichtet Friesenbichler langfristig". S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 1 July 2017. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  9. ^ "VfL verpflichtet Friesbichler". VfL Osnabrück (in German). 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Willkommen, Kevin Friesenbichler!" [Welcome Kevin Friesenbichler!]. dsvleoben.at (in German). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Kevin Friesenbichler » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  12. ^ "K. FRIESENBICHLER". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Kevin Friesenbichler". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 6 May 2024.
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