The woman of pain: How Lia Wälti carries the national team – and sometimes almost breaks

Real tears wouldn't have suited Lia Wälti. But her eyes were a little moist when Beatrice Egli belted out the Swiss national anthem in St. Jakob Park in Basel last Wednesday. The camera repeatedly lingered on the captain's face before the Swiss women's European Championship opening match , in the locker room corridor, and afterwards during the national anthem. Wälti appeared larger than life on the screens. As if, in this intense, emotional moment, she was watching over the team and perhaps also a little over the people in the stadium and outside, in the living rooms and at public viewings across the country.

Wälti's face reflected her character: calm determination. There was someone who knew what was expected of her and was ready to shoulder the responsibility. The Emmental native had probably never been as challenged as she was as a footballer at the European Championships in her home country. The burden of experience is all the more pressing given that Ramona Bachmann, a long-time pillar of the team, is out – and her companion Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic no longer plays a leading role. Against Norway, Wälti played with two 18-year-olds, a 21-year-old, and a 22-year-old, with 23-year-old Livia Peng in goal. The team has never needed Wälti as a prudent leader more.

Wälti is a born leader, but not in the loud way. One who is naturally given group leadership in the Scouts because she sees what needs to be done and gets to work. At 19, she was captain of YB, and at 21, she was with Turbine Potsdam in the Bundesliga. Former national coach Nils Nielsen, in a strange coinage, called her an "alpha puma." She says of herself that she has always been a "person of responsibility," the kind of person who is at a latent risk of taking on too much.

Wälti was recently asked in an interview with the NZZ newspaper how to get others to take on responsibility. She said: "It's not that easy. I also had to learn to delegate responsibility." During certain phases when a lot depended on her, she also took on many things that she didn't have to worry about. Today, she's better able to delegate.

And yet, one wonders whether she wasn't taking on too much in the emotionally charged weeks leading up to the European Championships at home. Wälti was everywhere: in an SRF documentary, in talk shows, and interviews. She didn't simply appear as a footballer spouting platitudes; her concerns are bigger than promoting women's football.

Since a crisis two years ago that forced her to take a short break, she has spoken in interviews about mental health and the importance of dealing with it openly. Wälti is also characterized by reserve; she is controlled and doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve. But she takes a personal approach where it seems important to her.

She tirelessly promoted the European Championship, appearing on billboards and in elaborate commercials in which she wanders through Switzerland and offers tips for Bern as a European Championship ambassador. She also obtained her coaching license, renovated her London apartment, and published a children's book with her sister. A few days before the opening match, she completed the exams for her distance learning course in business administration and sports management.

It's understandable that Wälti wants to seize the opportunity. She belongs to a generation of players who took nothing for granted, who fought for visibility throughout their careers. Now they're big, and not just on the massive screens in the stadium. Even in the most remote corners of the country, girls are wearing shirts with their names. The players want to take advantage of this attention. Wälti isn't just concerned with herself; just like with her children's book, she wants to encourage her successors and leave them structures that will last in the long term.

Wälti managed these activities at a time when she was not feeling well physically. A few weeks ago, she said at a media briefing: "I thought long and hard about whether or not to say this, but I'm going to say it. My health hasn't been optimal in the last six months. My body hasn't been 100 percent fit in the last few months since the surgery." Last November, she had to have an abscess removed. She won the Champions League with her club Arsenal in May, but she hasn't been playing regularly recently.

In the weeks leading up to the European Championship, she suffered from unspecified discomfort in her left knee, and her participation against Norway (1:2) had been in doubt until shortly before the match. She competed with a knee brace, had her thigh bandaged in the second half, and shortly afterward, she removed the bandage on the pitch. The feeling grew stronger that the 32-year-old was not only fighting a battle against her opponents and to reassure her teammates, but also a battle with her body.

Wälti had already been wavering before the last two tournaments. Before the 2022 European Championship, she sustained a thigh injury in the preparatory camp, and in 2023, she fought her way to the World Cup after an ankle injury, but wasn't at full strength. Even then, the country feared her participation. Her teammate Noelle Maritz says of Wälti: "I don't know anyone who works harder than her. When I go to the gym, she's always there; she's done everything she can to play."

When national coach Pia Sundhage is asked after the game in Basel what makes Wälti so indispensable, she answers: "Where do I start?" Coaches often say that every player is replaceable.

With Wälti, no one tries to talk others up. Sundhage doesn't talk about Wälti's dream pass, which led to Switzerland's opening goal, but rather about how Wälti makes the team so much better. Not only is Wälti always available to pass to, as if she were a safe haven anywhere on the field. She sets the pace and rhythm, she senses space and not only anticipates movements but also reacts intelligently to them.

It's still unclear whether Wälti will be able to play in the decisive match against Iceland on Sunday (9 p.m.). "We can't lose any more experience," she said before the opening match. Switzerland needs her.