If the Ghana national team finishes second in their group and the Spanish team wins the match against Germany and finishes first in their group, the brothers Nico and Inaki Williams They could meet in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
If it happens, it would be the third time in history that we see two brothers play against each other in a World Cup. On the two previous occasions, the fraternal duel had the same protagonists: Kevin Prince Boateng and Girolamo Boateng. The former has always defended Ghana and the latter Germany.
Just like the Boatengs, born in the same country, the Williams are also compatriots. Both Iñaki, 28, and Nico, 20, they have seen the light in Spain. One in Bilbao and the other in Pamplona, both territories belonging to the Basque Country.
A World Cup in the family
Unlike the other two, the Williamses get along more than well. They play together for Athletic Bilbao and whenever they can they publicly express all the love they have for each other.
“For old folks. Qatar, here we go,” Iñaki wrote in an Instagram post where he is shown with his brother. In the image, each is wearing their national team shirt and posing next to a mock-up of the World Cup.
Despite playing a friendly match for Vicente del Bosque’s Spanish team, Iñaki agreed to be part of ‘Las Estrellas Negras’. He took advantage of a golden opportunity. If he hadn’t chosen to represent his parents’ country, he probably never would have played in a World Cup.
The figure of the Athletic Club plays 9 and in the Spanish team, unlike the Ghanaian one, they have always had many players up front.
Nico, however, He will play his first World Cup at the age of 20. With Ansu Fati, Gavi Y Pedro, is a promise of selection. Although she had already played matches for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, she was one of the surprises on the list he gave Luis Enrico Last Friday the 11th.
a difficult story
The Williamses have spent nearly twenty years of their lives believing that the story of their parents’ lives, Felix and MaryIt hadn’t been as difficult as many African refugees. When asked how they got to the Basque Country, they always told them by plane.
But very recently both found that the two had gone through an odyssey to reach Spain. It was at Nico’s insistence that they revealed their past to them: “If I didn’t ask (my mother) she wouldn’t tell us anyway,” the younger Williams told El Correo.
“I didn’t know anything until I was 19. My father spent a lot of time outside, working, and my mother is not a subject she likes to talk about. What our parents did, leaving a whole life behind without knowing what the future will bring them. destiny, is something very brave. It’s not within everyone’s reach, “said Nico.
And Iñaki added: “We have our roots, our family history. We don’t know what it’s like to live in Africa, but my parents’ values and culture are part of my identity and that is something I will never forget.. I know what my parents went through and I know they went hungry.”
The Williamses have only been to Ghana twice, once when they were kids and once during a month-long vacation before the pandemic.
According to Nico, their last away trip “marked” Iñaki so that he felt he could represent that team in international tournaments. “My brother thought a lot about whether to go with the national team or with Ghana, but what marked him was the trip we made there that summer. Seeing all those people made him take the plunge of opting for the Ghana national team, taking on that role where hopefully he can do well and score a lot of goals.”
However, he never hesitated to represent Spain: “I’ve always been clear that I wanted to be here and I’m very happy that Luis Enrique gave me this opportunity, I hope to take advantage of it. As everyone knows, I want to be with the Spanish team and be better, show that I’m worth being here” .
Although he is already 28 years old, Iñaki experiences the World Cup as a young rookie. In fact, he’s been billed as a luxury reinforcement for Addo’s competitive team.
“I feel the time has come to find my roots and myself. And with all that Africa and Ghana mean to my family and to me,” says the Athletic’s nine in a video in which it says it will try to “give back to Ghana a small part of what it has given us and what has contributed to me as a person, as a son, as a brother”.
Will they hug before a World Cup match?
Source: Clarin
