“You Can’t Be Bent For Anything”

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“Open, honest, transparent.” With these words, Marion Daube, head of women’s football at SFV, describes Lia Wälti. Even if you talk about the national captain with other companions, it sounds the same. “Lia is thoughtful, intelligent and stands by her values. And she can’t bend to anything,” says Christian Schwab (30).

The man from Bern knows the 108-time Nati player from an early age and now works at the consultancy that looks after Wälti’s concerns. The feedback from clubs, associations and sponsors was exclusively positive. “Lia is very reliable and has a cheerful character.”

Wälti has made no secret of the reason for her little break. “The past few weeks and months have been difficult for personal reasons and mentally and psychologically draining,” she said on Instagram after her early departure from the national camp. An openness that is unusual in top sport, but shows the character of Wältis.

A clear position

“What can be perceived as a weakness is their strength. She is honest and authentic’, says Veronica Maglia (33). The current Swiss U17 national coach once played at YB together with the defensive midfielder. As a person, Wälti has remained the same to this day. “She’s kept her level-headed attitude.”

Wälti knows where she comes from. And she is one that overlooks the green lawn. When it came to continuing professional operations in England during the 2020 corona pandemic, she called for the season to be canceled rather than “spend thousands of pounds, euros or francs on tests that other people may need”.

She also repeatedly expresses herself in different ways about the football business. “I call for more progress for us women in certain areas; more viewers, more financial support. But I don’t want this attention that men have, their money and this pressure,” she said in a 2019 interview.

Start with YB

Wälti made the transition to top-flight football in 2009 when she joined YB, where she was allowed to play for the U16 juniors in her first season thanks to a special permit. Your teammates at that time were called David von Ballmoos, Leonardo Bertone or Michi Frey.

“De Giele looked at her, but she also at De Gielen,” says former coach Philipp Huber (51). “She was a very cheerful, decent, likeable girl.” Even then she revealed the football qualities that still characterize her today. “She read the game really well, both offensively and defensively,” Huber recalled.

This is followed by the switch to the YB women, where Wälti – only 17 years old – immediately becomes a regular player. “Your composure on the ball impressed me even then,” says Maglia. “She already knew what to do and when, and almost always made the right decisions.”

Even on a private trip to Berlin, Wälti is caught in the middle of it all and, despite being a minor, is smuggled into Berlin’s nightlife. “She was integrated into the team very quickly and grew up very quickly as a result,” says Maglia. Later, Wälti grew up playing football near Berlin, after all, she played for the traditional club Turbine Potsdam from 2013 to 2018.

(Almost) no vices

Wälti was first noticed by the general public in 2015 when she took part in the World Cup in Canada with the national team. The 22-year-old plays as a central defender, but national coach Voss-Tecklenburg already testifies to her world class. “I don’t know if you can ever top this experience,” says Wälti a few years later. “The first minutes against defending champion Japan, the knowledge of being in such a stadium at a World Cup, that was pure goosebumps.”

Wälti climbed to the world class in 2018 when she moved to England from the Bundesliga. In her first season, she was crowned champions with Arsenal and voted team of the season, although she missed the second half of the season due to injury. Now she has finally reached the top.

Everything great? Everything is beautiful? It’s actually hard to find anything negative about Wälti, says Marion Daube. Because she is a great role model both as a person and as an athlete.

Wälti, who grew up in the Emmental, had at least one or two nonsense in her head as a child, as she said in an interview with the “Tamedia” newspapers in 2022. As a child, she stole once and was caught doing so did. “I’ve never been the one to break the rules, I’m always right – that’s why people can hardly believe me,” says Wälti. “I even had to go to juvenile court and do community service for a week. That was a good lesson, I never did it again.”

Source : Blick