Iñaki Williams: “Playing with Nico is a dream come true”
Iñaki Williams: “Playing with Nico is a dream come true”
Iñaki Williams is thrilled to have fulfilled one of his goals by playing for Athletic alongside his brother Nico
Athletic Club striker Iñaki Williams admitted playing with his brother Nico Williams against Real Valladolid on Wednesday night was one of the proudest moments of his career so far.
The younger Williams brother made his debut by coming on as a 61st-minute substitute in Wednesday’s LaLiga clash and the siblings played the final 20 minutes together, becoming the first brothers to be on the pitch together for Athletic at the same time since Patxi and Julio Salinas in 1985.
“There were so many feelings,” The Athletic no.9 replied when asked about Nico’s debut. “I’ve always wanted this, it’s a dream come true. When I arrived at Athletic I dreamt of being in first team and when my brother came I dreamt of sharing a dressing room with him.
“Today we can say we’ve achieved that, although there’s still a long way to go.
“Nico has a lot of room for improvement. The important thing is not to get here, but to stay here. He’s been making progress and he’s doing very well at Bilbao Athletic, they’ve given him the chance to make his first-team debut.
“He has to continue along this path. With hard work and sacrifice he can do whatever he sets his mind to.”
The Lions take on Sevilla FC at the Ramon Sánchez-Pizjuán on Monday night (21:oo CEST) and Iñaki is well aware Athletic will have to be at their very best to overcome a side fighting for the LaLiga Santander title.
“They’re going to give it everything, they’re playing to win the title,” Williams said. “If we’re not at 110 percent, we’re not as strong as others, reaching our maximum level makes the rest of the teams respect us.
“That is the way forward, being a solid team and being ruthless in attacking transitions. Mathematically we are not out of the European places. We must have faith and keep fighting.”
Iñaki is unhappy about not being able to help the team with more goals, but he also believes he has improved in other areas this campaign.
He added: “I’m a striker and striker need to score goals.
“I’ve gotten a few assists and I try to contribute in other ways too, all for the good of the team.
“It hasn’t been an all bad season. In time we’ll realise the importance of having won a Super Cup, and we reached two consecutive Copa finals.
“We haven’t been consistent in the league, but it’s also hard for our opponents to beat us. We have keep going in the direction the manager wants, which is to become a competitive team and show that we want to win every match. All of that will bring us closer to victory.”