Contents
* 1 Club career
o 1.1 Early career
o 1.2 Tottenham
o 1.3 Sampdoria
* 2 International career
* 3 Personal life
* 4 References
* 5 External links
Club career
Early career
Ziegler began his football career with Servette FC, before signing with one of Switzerland's biggest clubs, Grasshopper Club Zürich.
After two years in Zürich, Ziegler was in the summer of 2004 signed by Tottenham Hotspur to a contract initially meant to begin on 1 January 2005, when his contract with Grasshoppers expired. But the two clubs, reportedly by initiative of then-Tottenham sporting director Frank Arnesen, were able to agree to an immediate transfer, and Reto joined Tottenham in late August of that year.
Tottenham
Despite being just 18 years old, he soon made his debut and became an important member of the team under both coach Jacques Santini, who left in October after just a few months in charge, and his successor, Martin Jol. He featured mostly at left midfield but also played a few games as left full-back, often switching position with Timothée Atouba, another versatile left-sided player with the team at the time.
He featured in 31 games in all competitions that season, including 23 in the Premier League. He showed great promise and improvement, and became popular with the fans for his attack-minded play on the left side and good passing ability. Some of his most memorable moments from that season came in the home loss to Arsenal, when near the end of the game he played a delicate chipped pass to Frédéric Kanouté, who scored to make it 4–5, and in the New Year's Day game against Everton, where he scored his first goal en route to a 5–2 Tottenham win. It had so far been the only goal of his professional career. At the end of the season, he was named the "JSM Young Player Of The Year", an award given to a young Tottenham player by its junior fan club.
In the summer of 2005, he was sent on loan to Hamburger SV of the German Bundesliga, where he featured in 11 games and three UEFA Cup games, but was criticised by manager Thomas Doll for a poor attitude and rarely played more than a few minutes per game. He was recalled from the loan by Tottenham in January 2006, only to be put back out on loan, this time at another Premiership team, Wigan Athletic. He played until the end of the 2005–06 season, getting five starts and five substitute appearances in the Premier League and one start in the FA Cup, performing well but not spectacularly. He also appeared as a substitute for Wigan in the 2006 Football League Cup Final.
Ziegler returned to Tottenham for the 2006–07 season and featured in four games, including starts in the Carling Cup and UEFA Cup. On 31 January 2007 he joined Sampdoria on loan until the end of the season.
Sampdoria
On 18 February 2007, Ziegler played his first Serie A match for Sampdoria against Parma and scored his first goal in his 10th Serie A appearance for the club against Messina on April 21, 2007. In May, Spurs brought in young left back Gareth Bale and Ziegler opted to sign for Sampdoria permanently on 3 July 2007.[3] During his first season, he was in and out of the starting line-up and most of his appearances were substitutions.
Ziegler finally managed to retain his place more regularly during the first half of the 2009–10 season. After a string of substitute appearances, he became first-choice left back. During the winter transfer window, he was linked with a move to Juventus. Having just secured his place in the starting eleven, he refuted the transfer rumours saying that he wanted to continue his run in the starting line-up in hopes of being selected for the upcoming World Cup.
In summer 2010 Ziegler was close to joining Russian Premier League heavyweights FC Zenit. However, after a serious injury to the first team central defender Ivica Križanac, Zenit head coach Luciano Spalletti opted for a more defensive left back who can also play in the centre in Aleksandar Luković.
International career
Ziegler was a former youth international. He made his full debut for Switzerland in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification game against France on March 26, 2005, helping his team secure a point through a 0–0 draw at the Stade de France. He gained two more caps before drifting out of the frame, and was not named to Switzerland's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He scored a late free kick against the Netherlands in September 2008 to send Switzerland through to the play-off round of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. On November 19, 2008, Ziegler scored his first senior goal for Switzerland, a powerful left-footed strike against Finland which won the match.
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