Walter "Wally" Ziaja (born July 2, 1949) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender. He spent two seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

and was a member of the U.S. soccer team at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He also earned four caps with the U.S. national team in 1973.

Player

National teams

Ziaja was selected to play with the U.S. team at

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in Munich. The U.S. went 0-2-1 in group play and failed to qualify for the second round. Ziaja played only one match, the 7–0 loss to West Germany. He earned his first cap on March 20, 1973, in a 4–0 loss to Poland. His last game was a 2–0 loss to Israel on November 15, 1973.

Professional

In 1973, Ziaja signed with the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1973 and again from 19 ...

of the

(NASL). At the end of the season, the Chiefs moved to Denver where it became the Denver Dynamos. Ziaja played the 1974 NASL season with the Dynamo then left the league.

Coach

Ziaja later went on to coach at

Arrowhead High School Arrowhead High School is a high school located in Hartland, Wisconsin. Sitting on of land, the school has two campuses, a north campus and a south campus. Juniors and seniors attend the north campus, while freshmen and sophomores attend the south ...

. In 2002, he became the girls' soccer coach at

Whitefish Bay High School Whitefish Bay High School is a comprehensive public secondary school located in the village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, United States. Enrollment is 947 students, in grades 9 through 12. The school newspaper, the ''Tower Times'', and the school ...

. He is a member of the Wisconsin Soccer Hall of Fame.Wisconsin Soccer Hall of Fame
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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziaja, Wally 1949 births Footballers from Linz American soccer players Austrian emigrants to the United States United States men's international soccer players Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players of the United States North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Atlanta Chiefs players Denver Dynamos players American soccer coaches Living people Association football defenders