Julia Stierli celebrates her 28th birthday on April 3, but there will be no party the day before the game against France. Stierli is a trained physiotherapist, has only been a full-time professional since last summer and reveals why she is avoiding social media.
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- Julia Stierli has been playing for the women's national team since 2017. She has only been a professional footballer since last summer, when she already had European Championship and World Cup experience.
- Since moving from FCZ to Bundesliga club Freiburg, the qualified physiotherapist has gained a lot of free time. She uses this to develop as a footballer, but also to do things she didn't have time for before.
- However, Stierli continues to give social media a wide berth, even if it means giving up some extra income.
Will Stierli have to buy a round on her birthday? "I haven't planned anything, but I'm not one to celebrate a big birthday either." Probably also because she is often on the road with the national team at the beginning of April. The birthday girl has been playing in the senior squad since 2017, having previously played for various junior teams.
Last summer, Stierli, who had won plenty of titles with FCZ in previous years, moved to Freiburg. She quickly found her feet at the fifth-placed team in the Bundesliga and became an undisputed regular. Does she regret not taking this step abroad earlier? "No, I don't regret it. The fact that I made this decision was also related to my studies. I wanted to finish it before I took a big step. For me, for my life, it was the right thing to do."
Stierli is a qualified physiotherapist and even had to miss a World Cup qualifier in 2021 due to an internship as part of her training. She's now fully committed to football and suddenly has a lot more free time as a result. Can she cope with it at all? Yes, it suits her at the moment. "And I've always said: I'll see what it's like and if I get bored, I'll look for something else."
She uses the newly gained time to work specifically on her weaknesses and for regeneration. She now enjoys reading a book and is currently learning to play the piano. She probably hits the notes less well than the balls at the moment: "I'm a very unmusical person," says Stierli and has to smile.
Stierli on social media: "I don't feel like it"
Even though Stierli has only been a professional footballer since this summer, she already has experience of the finals. She made a partial appearance at Euro 2022 and played all four games over the full distance at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the following year. The tall defender now has 45 international caps to her name and has started three of the last four national team matches.
Nevertheless, Stierli is still a little under the radar. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that she doesn't seek the limelight. She steers clear of social media, for example, which some players use to keep their fans happy and boost their often still modest wages as a footballer.
Why do you do without it? "I have no desire to do so. I can see the benefits of social media, but I'm not the type for it. And I don't miss it much either, so I'm happy without social media at the moment." Maybe she'll change her mind at some point, but you shouldn't forget that it takes work. It's not a sure-fire success, you can't just upload a few pictures and be done with it.
