“I learned from my mistake”
For personal reasons she decided against the European Football Championship in the summer, now she gets a second chance: Alisha Lehmann is also a bit self-critical on her comeback.
The team-mates have welcomed her well: Alisha Lehmann, here in a duel with Smilla Vallotto, is back in the national team.
Foto: Freshfocus
Alisha Lehmann is in a good mood as she arrives for the media event on day two of the national team training camp in Marbella. And that despite the fact that she must be aware that she has to answer a few more uncomfortable questions. Nevertheless, she jokes around with a microphone, seems relaxed and relaxed.
Of course, she will have already practiced with the media department of the football association how she would like to explain her voluntary absence from the EM 2022 in England. “Mental problems”, it was said at the time, which left a lot of room for speculation. Today she says: «Sometimes unpredictable things happen in life, for me it was something personal. I just wanted to share that with my family and closest friends.” But she also says: “In retrospect, I would certainly solve it differently, but I learned from the mistake.”
It caused quite a stir when the 24-year-old gave up the big event. It was then at least unfortunate that shortly afterwards she posted a holiday photo on Instagram with her then boyfriend, the Brazilian professional soccer player Douglas Luiz. “Sometimes I’m not the very best person at communicating, that’s generally the case,” she explains. Given the 11.7 million followers on Instagram — she recently Roger Federer passed – rather surprising, but perhaps also representative of another statement by the Aston Villa offensive player: “Social media is just not the real world.”
Captain Wälti gave her the trainer’s number
Real communication was needed to return to the national team for the first time under Inka Grings. Lehmann got Grings’ cell phone number from Captain Lia Wälti, and she called the new national coach to explain her situation. “Everyone deserves a second chance,” says Grings, she is also happy to have a good quality player to choose from.
Apparently the team sees it that way, too, as Lehmann reports that she was accepted well. She also briefly explained to her teammates what made her decide not to play at the European Championships, and then the topic was off the table again. A short thing, but she was a bit nervous beforehand, says Lehmann.
But now she and her teammates want to concentrate on preparing for the World Cup. In addition to the training sessions, there are two friendlies against Poland (February 17 and 21) in Marbella. It will then be serious from July 21, when Switzerland will play their first game at the World Cup in New Zealand against the Philippines. “A dream” would be participation for Lehmann, especially after she had to watch the European Championship. “There were moments when I thought I would have liked to have been there.”
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