Modesty, Thy Name is Torsten Frings

He grows long hair resembling a pop-artist who has just taken a day off from some music band. His name sounds like a character in a Coen brothers movie. He rides a Harley-Davidson to his club’s training sessions. There ends the acts of brazenness for Torsten Frings. He will never show a speck or smidgen of flamboyance once he is on the football field.

There he will station himself in front of the back four holding back the liberty of the rivals to instigate any attack. He tackles the ball away from his foes when he gets the slightest sniff of danger and safely doles outs it to his team-mates. Not only does he protect Germany’s inexperienced defence, but also give Schneider, Schweinsteiger and Ballack a license to play with more offensive flair without the worry of defensive work. He has tamed his entire natural penchant to blast forward, which was only rarely visible, but something of that sort resulted in a 25-yard stunner that he unleashed against Costa Rica in the opening match. When staying back he breaks up opposing attacks before they blossom, and wins the ball before releasing Klose or Podolski with a swift and effective pass. For France, Makelele does the job of the defensive midfielder and cuts out attacks and then provides the simple ball to the creative lot. Emerson does it for Brazil, Mascherano for Argentina; they do just the simple uncomplicated stuff, which is the most difficult one to perform. Andrea Pirlo’s role in Italy’s midfield is a bit different, as he is a defensive player who also has responsibility of being a playmaker from deep. Frings is much like that but still different as he organises the play from a bit more advanced area and Klinsmann calls his midfield as a flat four rather than a diamond where holding midfielder comes into play. But the Makeleles and the Mascheranos, and maybe Frings too, those are the men few fans will cheer for, only the coaches know their value, and true visionaries of the game have hailed their contributions. Much in the same mould as Nobby Stiles, Graeme Souness, Dunga and Roy Keane, Frings looks very cosy and comfy running deep on the field, and shifting from defence to attack in a split second.

This all-action, versatile midfielder, who has been employed in a multitude of positions by various trainers throughout his career, actually grew up as a child longing to be like Pele. As a young rookie for third division side TSV Alemannia Aachen, he played striker alongside veteran Marcus Feinbier. He made his move to Werder Bremen in 1996, helped the Weserstadion outfit to a German Cup final defeat of Bayern Munich in 1999 and tallying more than 160 Bundesliga appearances and 15 goals over six seasons. There he was played mostly as a right winger by Felix Magath. In 2002, a number of Europe's leading clubs were on Frings's trail but he opted for a deal with Borussia Dortmund. At Westfalenstadion, he played in all parts of the midfield. Starting the 2003/04 season late in the almanac after damaging his knee, he took over from Tomas Rosicky in the playmaking role and scored four times in 16 games before signing a three-year contract with Dortmund's chief rivals, Bayern Munich. Meanwhile in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, manager Rudi Voller played him as right full-back. Frings vindicated that decision by playing every minute of Germany's run to the final, where they lost to Brazil. Despite winning the domestic double with Bayern and making 29 Bundesliga and ten Champions League appearances, Frings never really enjoyed his football in Munich, and was played in numerous positions by coach Felix Magath. In June he rejoined Bremen, his Ruhr derby comeback against Schalke in January 2004 was watched by a Bundesliga record crowd of 83,000. His partnerships with Ballack during his spell at Bayern, and then with Klose at Bremen have all now come good for Germany. He combines well with all the players in which his link-up play with explosive left-back Phillip Lahm has been excellent so far, leading up to comparisons with the deadly Brehme-Matthaus dynamic duo.

German coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been quoted as saying that “a lot of the pieces of the puzzle have suddenly fallen into place”. While Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Jens Lehmann have grabbed all the headlines in the German press, Frings has been an unsung hero. He asked Frings to hold the play when he gave the permission for all the other players in the side to attack. Frings took his coach’s orders with open hands and suddenly Germany looked a much organised side. The axis that Klinsmann has been stressing on consists of Lehmann- Metzelder and Ballack-Klose on either side and Frings at its focal point. Against Argentina he made Riquelme look so shady, and that virtually put an end to the orchestra the Latin Americans were used to play.

Every team needs the grafter, the player who puts the foot into the 50/50 tackle or plays the sagacious square pass rather than the buoyant bomb, the one who keeps the discipline and the shape of the team. Germany has rediscovered Frings to act out that role. Sometimes when the team faces a defeat, he is criticised for not having the imagination to change the course of the game. But we need to remember his job is not to change games, their trade in time is to create the environment whereby the flair players have the opportunity to express themselves without needing to worry too much about what is going on behind them. That is why Ballack rates Frings high, Klinsmann consider him as his idea’s heart. As a whole nation experiences that Euphoria, if somebody can do the job every time for them, it is none other than Torsten Frings.