Nico Williams: ‘Kroos has eyes in the back of his head’

Nico Williams (12 July 2002, Pamplona), one of the sensations of the European Cup, met AS in Donaueschingen this Wednesday to talk about the European Cup, his friend Lamine and the future, which he does not want to get into until the road to Spain ends. He hopes that will be on 14 July next year.

The general opinion is that Spain best groups of the Eurocup. Is this Selection Lamin and Niko?

Not at all. We are all a team. It is not me and Lamin. It is true that we appreciate the support you give us, but I think we are doing something incredible. You cannot give everything to two players. But I am glad that we have such support from the fans.

That TikTok video of his with Lamin that went viral, not from that moment, but from the first concentrations. What does that mean to you?

In the end, this video was the beginning of a good relationship. We get along very well. Lamin is not only a teammate, but also a friend. This extends to the pitch, where we get along well. He introduced us to Balde, blessed Balde, who helped us get to know each other, and now we get along so well.

The parties help them.

Yes, Cucurella hides my mistakes, he always helps me. They have a great Eurocup, and I think few people attach value to the tournament they have. Carvajal, we already know what it is. He won the Champions League not long ago. These are two incredible players who help me and Lamine in everything. And they free us up so that we can cope with difficulties more easily.

In addition, they begin to itch. In the first game he was MVP and reminded him that he was already one ahead. And the other day he scored a goal and the same thing. Signature, that he scores against Germany?

Yes, I sign it. It would be an honor for me if my friend became the most valuable player of the Euro match. We get along well, he is like a little brother to me. I hope he will give us a place in the semi-finals.

Kroos has a 95% success rate in passing. How do they plan to hide it?

Yes, at the end of the day, we all know Kroos. He is a great passer. It seems like he has eyes in the back of his head. The truth is that he is a very complete player. We will have to work hard in defensive tasks, but the team will thank us for it. We know that he will be outlined on the left side. That is what he usually does. We will try to control it when we are in the middle block, the low block… We have to show that we have commitment.

“It would be great to celebrate the Eurocup on July 15”

Germany’s right back is Kimmich. He’s getting criticism. Are you going to follow him?

At the end of the day, he is a great player and has proven it throughout his career. He is at Bayern for a reason. I have a lot of respect for him because he is a great player. I will try to play my game, what I have always done. What brought me here. I will face him as many times as necessary, and if I can leave, so much the better… For me, he is a great defender. His position is a pivot, but I have a lot of respect for him. I will try to do my best.

The other day Pedri hesitated during training. What happened, you can’t go to Barca with that haircut? In Madrid, yes…

(Laughs). That’s not what we were talking about. There was news that we were saying, “I don’t know about ten.” We weren’t talking about Barça or anything. We were talking about EA FC Pro (new FIFA) clubs. I have ten, Lamine has ten, Pedri has ten. We were talking about how you can’t have three tens in one team.

It’s amazing that, despite your young age, you and Lamin already have your own strategic advantages. Is that something they’re working on?

Today we trained him, for example. We have good shots, but there are players like Baena who have exquisite shots. We need to train, and they insist on turning until everything goes well. I hope ABP can score a goal.

You support your people from Pamplona, ​​Bilbao…

I am the kid next door who loves to hang out outside with my friends. Before, you were stopped by people who would just say hello. But I am grateful because it was these people who allowed me to be here. But it is true that things have changed.

Do you feel like a leader yet? This season he put Athletic on his back in the Cup final. And the other day, in the match with Italy, he did the same thing.

Not at all. I am another member of the team. The leader here is the coach. He is the one who decides the changes, the one who decides how to play. Each of us has an important role, and there is no star on this team. This is what makes us strong, and we are going in the same direction. We are striving to do something big. We all have to row in the same direction. We want to do great things. I hope everything goes well and we can all have fun together.

How much can this Eurocup change your life?

Maybe they will recognize me where I thought they wouldn’t. It’s true that life changes. I always said that I played in these games for Athletic, but no one saw them because we didn’t play in Europe. This year we got involved. I took advantage of the opportunity that was given to me to fulfill another dream, to make a name for myself. To be or try to be one of the best players in my position. This is what I try to do every day and I have to keep going in this direction. I’m doing well and I have to keep going.

His brother was here, his agent, his family. How much is coming to your ears now, how do you filter it? How important is your brother’s figure in all this?

At the end of the day, my brother is a very important person to me. You are in a similar situation to me. He also had offers outside Athletic, but I said I don’t want to know anything about anything that comes from outside, about signings or stories. They know who I am, what my personality is; and I don’t like to know that because I get distracted easily. I prefer to focus on one thing and go for it. Because if I have this or that in my head, in the end my head doesn’t work very well. My agent, my parents and my family know me very well and they know that I don’t want to hear anything until the Eurocup is over.

“I told my agent I didn’t want to know anything until the Euros were over”

Question about art. Do you speak English?

A little bit… (laughs).

One of the famous slogans of “Athletics” this year was: “bajini”Do you think Spain can win the Eurocup the “low way”?

I think it shows. Nobody would have thought that we would get to this point. Everyone said that Spain is not the favourite, that we don’t have a very good team, that I don’t know what. Thousands of opinions are against us. We are showing that we are a great team, that we have ambition and desire to reach the final. Let’s go step by step. After all, flying low makes life better. I hope that we continue on this path and that we can make the dream come true.

A friend from Bilbao told us that the Europa League final will take place next year. It is played in San Mames.…Would you like to play against Athletic?

(Laughs). As I said, I am a person who does not like…. Of course, it makes me happy. But I am focused on the European Cup. It is far away. What will happen next year, no one knows. Everything that is supposed to come will come.

Based on what you saw at the Eurocup, who would you like to play with, who would you stay with?

I really like watching Musiala. He plays inside and outside, he touches the ball, he dribbles, he has a goal and he shows it. There are many players and very good ones. You should also learn as much as you can from these players.

You can see a brave team that attacks.

I think so too. We have ambitions. It’s true that in other years we weren’t so lucky. I think we were better than Morocco at the World Cup, but we had to stay on the sidelines. Now people understand that we can do great things.

Are we going to win?

I hope so. I won’t say yes. I don’t like that because I might jinx it. But we’ll try to get there by July 15th. Let’s all celebrate. That would be great.

If Spain reaches the semi-finals, San Fermin will lose.

I’m from Pamplona and it’s true that I’m there every year, but if I don’t make it to the final, please. I hope so and God wants it to be so.

If Spain is still in the tournament, we will take a photo of him wearing a scarf on the 7th.

For me it’s normal. Transparent.

The last one is about the message to the kids. You had to close your social media after the Cup semi-final against Osasuna, where you missed several opportunities. What did you learn from that and how did you learn to cope?

In the end, I got into a tricky situation. A lot of people started talking nonsense to me, went against me. I encourage children to be careful what they post on social media. Because, at the end of the day, everyone is very brave behind the screen. With anonymity, everything is easy. But I emphasize to children that they do not know what harm certain words can cause to a person. At the end of the day, you do not know what can happen in life to another person. You can hurt them. I felt bad, but after talking to my family, I realized that I need to change my mindset, that comments can come if I have a bad day. There will always be people hiding. Now I got up; If I play a bad game on Friday, everyone will say I am terrible. This is what I had to experience as a footballer. I live with it. We professionals know what kind of mentality we need. Hopefully, I will have a good game on Friday.

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