It became clear early on that Lia Wälti was a great football talent. In 2009, she transferred to YB's U16 team, where she was the only girl among the boys. Her teammate at the time, David von Ballmoos, remembers.
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- On her way from little girl to professional footballer, Lia Wälti also had to deal with boys. The national team captain once played in the YB youth team together with David von Ballmoos.
- The YB goalie has nothing but good memories: "Even back then, she took control of the game and gave us the stability we needed." They also listened to her when she said something.
Lia Wälti grew up in a very polysporty family. A particular highlight was the ice rink in the garden, which her father prepared every winter. Whether Lia herself, her father Andreas or sister Meret, they all talk about it when they think back. But football is also always high on the agenda. And so it was that Lia left home at the age of 13 to train with the best girls in her year at the Huttwil training center.
"It was difficult to let Lia go, as she was also at the lower end of her maturity range," recalls her father in an interview with blue Sport. She had actually wanted to go down this path a year earlier, but they had put a stop to it. In Huttwil, she lived with a host family during the week and only came home at weekends: "We knew the host family, so we had a good feeling about it."
She followed this path for two years before moving to YB's U16 team, where she played with the boys. "I made very good friends during my time with the boys," says Wälti and remembers the entertaining bus trips to the games or her first "youth sins" off the pitch. But also the moments when she tunneled or dribbled out a teammate: "That wasn't so nice for the boys." Conversely, it was never a problem: "I was always protected." Even when the opposing players knocked on the referee's booth, where she had to change her clothes.
David von Ballmoos about Lia Wälti
She still has occasional contact with some of the players from back then, such as Leonardo Bertone, Grégroy Wüthrich and David von Ballmoos. In an interview with blue Sport, the latter still remembers their year together at YB. "It was certainly special to have a girl in the team, but we saw her as a teammate. And I think we supported her well. At most, it was a bit more difficult for the boys in her position," says the most successful YB goalie in history.
"Even back then, she took control of the game and gave us the stability we needed," recalls Von Ballmoos, adding: "We definitely listened to her." Even then, you could tell that she really understood football. "That has nothing to do with gender. You could tell that even at a young age, it was very impressive. She was simply always consistent and I think that's exactly what still sets her apart today."
In 2011, Wälti won the Swiss championship with the YB women, two years later she was signed by Potsdam, one of the best clubs at the time, and matured into a top player. In 2018, after five years in the Bundesliga, she moved on to Arsenal. Wälti won the Champions League with the Gunners at the end of May this year, celebrating her greatest success to date. However, the ultimate highlight of her career is yet to come with the European Championship at home.
