“Nico, Nico, Nico!” The Spanish fans, around 15,000 at the Veltins-Arena, surrendered to the power of Nico Williams, difficult to decipher one-on-one (four successful dribbles), stinging on the wing (five crossed crosses), a headache for the Italian defense (a shot exploded on the crossbar). Furthermore, the action that ended in Calafiori’s own goal began with his left boot. “The coach asks me to face up, to be myself and to always play my game. I’m very happy. We got the round match. The team has worked like animals. We already showed against Croatia that we wanted to do something big,” celebrated Nico Williams, crowned the MVP of the match. Second straight win for La Roja in Germany, which translates into a ticket to the round of 16.
1
Unai Simón, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella, Robin Le Normand, Dani Carvajal, Pedri, Fabián Ruiz, Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Álvaro Morata, Nico Williams, Ferran Torres (Lamine Yamal, min. 70), Álex Baena (Pedri, min. 70), Mikel Oyarzabal (Álvaro Morata, min. 77), Ayoze Pérez (Nico Williams, min. 77) and Mikel Merino (Fabián Ruiz, min. 93)
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Gianluigi Donnarumma, Riccardo Calafiori, Alessandro Bastoni, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Federico Dimarco, Nicolò Barella, Davide Frattesi, Jorginho, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Gianluca Scamacca, Federico Chiesa, Andrea Cambiaso (Davide Frattesi, min. 45), Bryan Cristante (Jorginho, min. . 45), Mattia Zaccagni (Federico Chiesa, min. 63), Mateo Retegui (Gianluca Scamacca, min. 63) and Giacomo Raspadori (Lorenzo Pellegrini, min. 81)
Goals
1-0 min. 54: Riccardo Calafiori
Referee Slavko Vincic
Gianluigi Donnarumma (min. 14), Cristante (min. 45), Rodrigo (min. 46), Le Normand (min. 68), Dani Carvajal (min. 95)
“I am very focused. This is a showcase, but I want to have a good Euro Cup. I want to aspire to more. “You always dream of these things, this goes for all the people who trust me.” Nico Williams got off the Red bus with his helmets on. He seemed serious, focused. Inside his head, there was the game against Croatia: no shots, two successful dribbles. Williams wanted to meet Williams against Italy. This is what he had mentioned to those around him. He basically wanted to enjoy himself.
When he was walking down the corridor inside the field towards the locker room, some Italian fans held out their hands to him. Nico high-fived them. Then Lamine followed, his shadow in Spain’s concentration at the Euro Cup. “Today I felt incredible, in the end my teammates gave me the confidence to face one on one, which is my strength. The game I played today is incredible,” explained Nico Williams. And he stressed: “Perhaps it is the most complete game I have had with the national team.”
His performance, in any case, did not prevent him from getting a fight from Luis de la Fuente, when he lost a ball in the center of the field. “It is a weak point that I have, when I play inside, I am trying to improve in that aspect,” explained the Athletic forward. “I don’t want to personify anyone. Individual talent has to be at the service of the team. My best virtue is that I know the players very well and I know what they need to be happy,” said De la Fuente. “I repeat,” he insisted; “I still think, like before I started, that there is no better team than us. The best thing is that we have a feeling of team and solidarity.”
“There are three points and we move on to the next round. We have shown that we are a great team and we suffocate anyone. It is very difficult to play against us,” Morata added. Along the way, Le Normand added: “We showed that we have talent.” And De la Fuente concluded: “I am delighted and proud to have beaten the current European champion in the way it was achieved. Nothing has been done yet. “We are not going to lose our minds over flattery.”
Nico doesn’t want to lose her either. Praised by his teammates — “they applauded me when I got to the locker room” —, supported, as always, by his brother. “The first message I had on my cell phone was from him. It is the triumph of the Williams family. And from Spain, of course.
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