Williams Takes Spotlight as Spain Power Through to Euros Quarters

Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams (R) led the Georgia defence on a merry jig in Cologne to reach the Euro 2024 last eight. Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP
Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams (R) led the Georgia defence on a merry jig in Cologne to reach the Euro 2024 last eight. Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP
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Williams Takes Spotlight as Spain Power Through to Euros Quarters

Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams (R) led the Georgia defence on a merry jig in Cologne to reach the Euro 2024 last eight. Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP
Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams (R) led the Georgia defence on a merry jig in Cologne to reach the Euro 2024 last eight. Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP

Thanks to his tender age and illustrious club, Spain and Barcelona's teenage winger Lamine Yamal has caught the eye at Euro 2024 but on the opposite flank, Nico Williams is proving every bit as devastating.
The 21-year-old Athletic Bilbao winger has emerged as a key player for La Roja and scored a stunning goal in the 4-1 last 16 rout of Georgia on Sunday which set Spain up with a quarter-final heavyweight clash against hosts Germany, said AFP.
Newspaper Marca described Yamal and Williams as "two Ferraris" on the wings and in bright Spanish red they tore strips out of Willy Sagnol's Euros debutants to reach the quarter-finals.
"They are two very important pieces of the puzzle for us -- they infect us with that youth and innocence, that's often so important," said midfielder Rodri, whom Williams set up for Spain's equalizer after Georgia took a shock lead.
Born five years and a day before Yamal, whom he is both a friend and mentor to within the Spain camp, Williams may well get a transfer to a more high profile side this summer after his thrilling performances in Germany.
He has been on Barcelona's radar for some time and if the Catalans can make some progress financially in the coming weeks they may move for the winger to recreate Luis de la Fuente's swashbuckling Spain attack.
The joint-record three time winners are eyeing a fourth Euros triumph with Williams and Yamal's devastating pace and skill the cornerstone of their success thus far.
Williams is maturing rapidly and he said his finest Spain performance to date was in the 1-0 group stage win over Italy, but now Georgia is a new contender.
The Athletic winger shredded Italy's Giovanni Di Lorenzo repeatedly on a night where Spain could have won by far more, an early indication of the Nations League winners' strength.
While Georgia were on paper weaker opponents, the surprise package of the Euros had upset Portugal in their previous outing and kept a clean sheet, with Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili repelling anything that came his way.
However even he could not keep out Williams' brilliant strike to put Spain 3-1 up in Cologne, with the forward leaving a defender for dead and then rifling into the roof of the net.
Having led Georgia's defense on a merry jig, Williams and Yamal performed a celebratory dance.
'Going to be annoying'
"Nico Williams is going to be a little annoying after his match," joked Yamal.
"I told him not to start with it because I will score in the next game."
Watching on from the stands was Williams' older brother and Athletic team-mate, Inaki, a Ghana international, who looked after him as a child when their father was working in England and their mother was doing multiple jobs in Spain.
"It's incredible that you are my brother," wrote Inaki on social media platform X after the game.
"I was so happy after scoring the goal, especially for my parents, my friends and my brother who were in the stands," explained Williams.
After the game, Williams and Yamal were seen playing a game of 'rock, paper, scissors' in a tussle for a well-deserved post match drink.
"He didn't want to give me the bottle of water and we always play a game of chance," explained Williams.
"This week he'll have to put up with me because he didn't score -- hopefully in the next game he can shut me up.
"We always give each other challenges and we work well together."
Facing Germany in the last eight is arguably the biggest match of the duo's careers but with no speed limits on the Autobahn, Spain's Ferraris are not slowing down.



Rafael Nadal Retired after the Davis Cup. It's a Rare Team Event in Tennis

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Rafael Nadal Retired after the Davis Cup. It's a Rare Team Event in Tennis

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Rafael Nadal wanted to play his last match before retiring in Spain, representing Spain and wearing the red uniform used by Spain's Davis Cup squad.

“The feeling to play for your country, the feeling to play for your teammates ... when you win, everybody wins; when you lose, everybody loses, no?” Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, said a day before his career ended when his nation was eliminated by the Netherlands at the annual competition. ”To share the good and bad moments is something different than (we have on a) daily basis (in) ... a very individual sport."

The men's Davis Cup, which concludes Sunday in this seaside city in southern Spain, and the women's Billie Jean King Cup, which wrapped up Wednesday with Italy as its champion, give tennis players a rare taste of what professional athletes in soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey and more are so used to, The AP reported.

Sharing a common goal, seeking and offering support, celebrating — or commiserating — as a group.

“We don’t get to represent our country a lot, and when we do, we want to make them proud at that moment,” said Alexei Popyrin, a member of the Australian roster that will go up against No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner and defending champion Italy in the semifinals Saturday after getting past the United States on Thursday. “For us, it’s a really big deal. Growing up, it was something that was instilled in us. We would watch Davis Cup all the time on the TV at home, and we would just dream of playing for it. For us, it’s one of the priorities.”

Some players say they feel an on-court boost in team competitions, more of which have been popping up in recent years, including the Laver Cup, the United Cup and the ATP Cup.

“You're not just playing for yourself,” said 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, part of Britain's BJK Cup team in Malaga. “You’re playing for everyone.”

There are benefits to being part of a team, of course, such as the off-court camaraderie: Two-time major finalist Jasmine Paolini said Italy's players engaged in serious games of UNO after dinner throughout the Billie Jean King Cup.

There also can be an obvious shared joy, as seen in the big smiles and warm hug shared by Sinner and Matteo Berrettini when they finished off a doubles victory together to complete a comeback win against Argentina on Thursday.

“Maybe because we’re tired of playing by ourselves — just for ourselves — and when we have these chances, it’s always nice,” Berrettini said.

On a purely practical level, this format gives someone a chance to remain in an event after losing a match, something that is rare in the usual sort of win-and-advance, lose-and-go-home tournament.

So even though Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti came up short against Francisco Cerúndolo in Italy's opener against Argentina, he could cheer as Sinner went 2-0 to overturn the deficit by winning the day's second singles match and pairing with Berrettini to keep their country in the draw.

“The last part of the year is always very tough,” Sinner said. “It's nice to have teammates to push you through.”

The flip side?

There can be an extra sense of pressure to not let down the players wearing your uniform — or the country whose anthem is played at the start of each session, unlike in tournaments year-round.

Also, it can be difficult to be sitting courtside and pulling for your nation without being able to alter the outcome.

“It’s definitely nerve-racking. ... I fully just bit all my fingernails off during the match," US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz said about what it was like to watch teammate Ben Shelton lose in a 16-14 third-set tiebreaker against Australia before getting on court himself. "I get way more nervous watching team events, and my friends play, than (when it’s) me, myself, playing.”