Paul Freier [Bochum]

[Oliver_Kahn]

German international Paul Freier (Bayer Leverkusen) has been suspended for two matches.


Freier has been suspended by the DFB disciplinary panel.

Ban takes immediate effect

The player and the club have already accepted the ban, which takes immediate effect.

Freier had been given a straight red card after 75 minutes of Saturday's 3-2 defeat at VfL Wolfsburg.

Freier will now miss Bayer's matches against Frankfurt and Hanover.

[Trim]

Bad news for Leverkusen.. He's one of their key players.

[Trim]

German international Paul Freier has extended his contract with Bayer Leverkusen and committed himself to the Bay Arena outfit until 2009.

The 27-year-old winger, who was overlooked for Germany’s friendly against Switzerland next week, joined Leverkusen in 2004 from Bochum.

“We are happy that Paul decided to stay on,” declared director of sport Rudi Voller,

Voller also revealed that striker Patrick Helmes from second-division side FC Cologne will join the club in 2008 after signing a pre-contract at the Bay Arena.

“Helmes is tied to Cologne until 2008, but we hope that we will get him already in the summer,” said Voller.

The youngster rose to prominence at the beginning of the season when he broke into Dieter Eilts Under 21 squad and is currently hoping to seal his comeback after a lengthy injury spell on the sidelines.

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He's one of the key players and he's useful for Leverkusen. Definately a smart deal keeping him.

[Oliver_Kahn]

He's one great winger.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Freier on the score sheet, as Leverkusen won against Stuttgart.
3-1 the final score

[Trim]

Great player... A key player of Leverkusen. Nice to see him scoring.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Very good winger, German international.

Freier is very pacy and has good dribling skills.

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Freier leaves Leverkusen

Paul Freier returns to VfL Bochum for the 2008/09 season.

The 28-year-old midfielder makes the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen and signs a five-year contract valid for both professional leagues.

Freier has played 192 Bundesliga matches (26 goals) so far, 81 of them for VfL. He has also won 19 caps for Germany.

"I'm absolutely delighted to return to VfL. I have never left Bochum completely, my family and I have always lived here. VfL are my home club where I've had my best time as a footballer. I hope that we can celebrate new success next season", Freier said.

"Paul Freier has a special affinity for VfL. His sporting qualities are undisputed so that he'll definitely help us", VfL coach Marcel Koller commented.

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[Trim]

Freier: "To be as successful as possible"

Paul Freier pulled on the shirt for VfL Bochum from 1999 until 2004. Now, the midfielder has returned to the club from Bayer Leverkusen.

In interview, Freier looks back on his time at Bayer, and forward to the new season at Bochum.

Question: After four years at Leverkusen, you've returned to VfL Bochum. What expectations do you bring with you?

Paul Freier: I want to be as successful as possible at VfL, naturally enough, and hope we can achieve our target of 45 points before it gets all-too late in the season. Once we manage that, we'll have to see what can still be done.

Question: Looking back, what's your own verdict on your time at Leverkusen?

Freier: On the one hand it was a good and very instructive time at Leverkusen, particularly as we were playing in Europe as well. On the other hand, four years there was long enough and it was time for a change.

Question: You've played 19 times for Germany, scoring once. Do you still have hopes of another call-up for international duty?

Freier: I can only have that hope if I'm playing well at Bochum, of course. So at the moment it's not something I'm thinking about. But if we get to that stage I'll be glad to discuss it again (laughs).

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