Benjamin Huggel
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin Huggel | ||
| Date of birth | 7 July 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Dornach, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defensive Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987–1996 | FC Münchenstein | ||
| 1996–1998 | FC Arlesheim | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2005 | FC Basel | 153 | (31) |
| 2005–2007 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 53 | (1) |
| 2007–2012 | FC Basel | 144 | (31) |
| Total | 350 | (63) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003–2010 | Switzerland | 41 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 May 2012, 24:00 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 December 2010, 24:00 (UTC) |
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Benjamin "Beni" Huggel (born 7 July 1977 in Dornach) is a former Swiss footballer who played as a midfielder for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League and for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
He won a total of twelve titles with Basel, seven League Championships and five Swiss Cup titles. He played in four Swiss Cup Finals (he missed one due to an injury) and scored a goal in each Final. For Frankfurt he played in the 2006 DFB-Pokal Final, but the team finished as runner-up. Huggel played 41 times as a Swiss international scoring two goals, the second of which being the 1000th goal in the history of the Swiss national team. He was well known because of his height, his strength and for being a fearless fighter in the centre of the pitch. He now works for Basel as assistant trainer for the U-21 team.
Huggel grew up and went to School in suburban Münchenstein, ten minutes from Basel and close to the borders of France and Germany. He has a younger brother. Their parents are both teachers and his mother is a well known local politician. Huggel completed his apprenticeship as Landscape Gardener before he became professional footballer.
Huggel began his youth football with local club FC Münchenstein and came through the ranks between 1987 and 1996. He was loaned out to FC Arlesheim for two years (the price of which was a match ball), before completing his move to FC Basel in 1998. In his first year in Basel, under Manager Guy Mathez, he was solely a reserve player. Huggel made his debut for Basel on 6 December 1998, as he was transferred in during the 65th minute, in the 2–1 away win in the Wankdorf Stadium against Young Boys. In the 1998–99 season he made just three short appearances as substitute in the first team. But during the following year in the 1999–2000 Nationalliga A, under new Manager Christian Gross, he advanced into the starting team and played 34 of the 36 league games, scoring four goals. He scored his first goal for the team on 15 August 1999 as Basel won 2–0 against Luzern at home in the Schützenmatte Stadion. Huggel enjoyed his best campaign in 2000–01 when he scored eight goals in 29 league games from the centre of midfield.
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