🇨🇭 Euro 2022 Player to Watch: Lia Wälti | OneFootball

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Switzerland will be leaning on the attacking abilities of record goalscorer Ana-Maria Crnogorčević and Ramona Bachmann this July but it will be Lia Wälti who is the key if they are to make it out of Group C.

Across the Women’s Super League and Champions League last season just four outfield players played more minutes for Arsenal than Wälti. Yet she didn’t find the back of the net as 17 of her team-mates did.

But only two players completed more passes. Only one won more tackles. Nobody had as many touches of the ball or made as many interceptions.

Wälti is the supremely talented glue between defence and midfield that every successful team needs. Always available for a pass and calm under pressure in possession, she is also a gifted sweeper in front of the back four. And Switzerland captain to boot.

“Lia understands football incredibly well,” manager Nils Nielsen has said.

“She makes sure my ideas are implemented. She is the best captain I have ever had.”

What stands out when you watch the 29-year-old is her intelligence. Wälti can carry out a plan but she can also think on her feet. No player in the WSL is as two-footed as the midfielder, helping her squeeze out of tricky situations and always find a threatening pass.

Those passes can be so brilliantly disguised, too, with the midfielder looking on way before twisting her hips to close the angle and catch everyone off guard.

For all their ability in other positions — and there is plenty — it will be Wälti who is crucial both with and against the ball this summer.

Whether Switzerland are sitting back, pressing high, dominating possession or playing at the break, their captain will be setting the tone and making it all possible.