Nico Williams – one of the standout stars of European Championships – dominated Sunday’s final against England, proving to be Spain’s biggest threat.
The 22-year-old was named Player of the Match as La Roja sunk England to consecutive defeats in European Championship finals.
The attacker opened the scoring at the Olympiastadion and could have left Berlin with multiple assists to his name if the Spanish forward line were more clinical on the night.
The Basque born wonder-kid was a standout star in Germany, especially in the final where he carved multiple opportunities for the Spanish to enforce a more brutal scoreline on Gareth Southgate’s England.
As he tried to comprehend that he was a European Champion, the Athletic Club winger reflected on the unforgettable memory he and his teammates had created.
“I’ll never forget this throughout my career. I’ve fought so much in order to be here, my family has fought so much for this and to be able to live this moment with me.”
Williams noted that society had changed from his childhood, thanking his parents for the suffering they endured to allow him to live out his dream. The winger confessed that the European Championship win was as much for them as it was for him.
“I think that there’s a historical change. We’re really grateful, my parents have suffered a lot to get here and they’re the ones who have suffered the most. They have loyalty in me and at the end of the day, I think footballers have a lot of impact in society so I’m really happy because we’re making history.”
The Spanish national team are blessed with two of the best wingers in the world, Williams and Lamine Yamal – with the latter the youngest player to win an international major tournament at just 17 years old. If both attackers continue their upwards trajectory Sunday’s Euros win could be the beginning of yet another period of international dominance by Spain.
Williams had high words of praise for his teenage counterpart, who was named young player of the tournament.
“Well, Lamine is incredible. You’ve all seen him here, he’s won the prize for the best young player at the tournament and the sky is the limit for him. Apart from being a good player, he’s a great person and things are very clear in his mind.”
England had success playing a back three throughout the knockouts, yet they sacrificed their effective principals and switched to a back four in an attempt to neutralise Spain. A large reason for that switch was to combat Spain’s pace in wide areas to ensure England were not left outnumbered at the back, Southgate revealed. Williams shared that it was a “flattering” feeling.
“At the end, it’s flattering. I’ll always try to do my best to help my team. It’s true that people are getting to know me, have more respect for me and I appreciate that very much. It’s what I work for every day and I hope I can be one of the best in my position.”