Thanks to his tender age and illustrious club, Spain and Barcelona teenage winger Lamine Yamal has caught the eye at Euro 2024 but on the opposite flank, Nico Williams is proving devastating.
Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams are likened to the two Ferraris of the Spanish team.
The 21-year-old Athletic Bilbao winger has emerged as a key player for La Roja and scored a stunning goal in Sunday’s 4-1 last-16 win over Georgia to set up a heavyweight quarter-final clаsh with hosts Germany. Marca described Yamal and Williams as “two Ferraris” on the wings and in bright red Spain they tore through Willy Sagnol’s Euro newcomers to reach the quarter-finals.
“They are two very important pieces for us – they give us youth and innocence, which is often very important,” said midfielder Rodri, whose assist Williams provided for Spain’s equaliser. Born five years and one day before Yamal, with whom he was both a friend and mentor in the Spain camp, Williams could be on his way to a more prominent club this summer after impressive displays in Germany.
Williams has been on Barcelona’s radar for some time and if the Catalans can make some financial progress in the coming weeks, they could move for Nico to replicate Luis de la Fuente’s potent аttаck in La Roja. Spain are aiming for a fourth European Championship title with the devastating pace and skill of Williams and Yamal the cornerstone of their success so far.
Williams is maturing quickly and he rates his best performance at the Euros as the 1-0 group stage win over Italy, but now the win over Georgia has him thinking again. The Athletic winger repeatedly took down Italy’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo on a night when Spain could have won by more, an early sign of the Nations League winners’ strength.
Georgia were weak opponents on paper, but they were phenomenal in their surprise win over Portugal, while Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili repelled anything that came his way.
However, even Giorgi Mamardashvili could not stop Williams’ brilliant strike to give Spain a 3-1 lead in Cologne. After breаking through Georgia’s defence in a fun game, Williams and Yamal performed a celebratory dance.
“Nico Williams will be a bit upset after the game,” joked Yamal. “I told him not to start this game because I will score in the next one.” Watching from the stands was his brother and Athletic team-mate Williams Inaki (Ghanaian international), who looked after little Nico while their father was working in England and their mother was working as a cleaner in Spain.
“I can’t believe you’re my brother,” Inaki wrote on social media platform X after the match, while Nico Williams explained: “I was so happy after scoring the goal, especially for my parents, friends and my brother who were in the stands.” After the match, Williams and Yamal were seen playing ‘rock, paper, scissors’ over a well-deserved post-match drink.
“He doesn’t want to give me a water bottle and we always play a game of chance,” explains Nico Williams. “This week he’ll have to put up with me not scoring – hopefully next game he can shut me up. We always challenge each other and work well together.”
Facing Germany in the quarter-finals was the biggest game of the duo’s careers but with no speed limiters on the field, Spain’s Ferraris were unfazed.