Wings of Change: Wingers Williams and Yamal have made Spain the team to beat at Euro
Yamal seemed to become the face of this Spain side heading into Euro 2024. For one it’s his youth, of course — a star at just 16. There’s also the potential for so many storylines, with his birthday the day before the final itself.
And while Lamal has the headlines and the highlights, it’s his teammate on the opposite flank, Nico Williams, who has been growing into the tournament in seriously impressive fashion, enough so that he now looks perhaps the most important key to them getting past tough upcoming op-ponents, in pursuit of a third European Championship success in the space of just 16 years.
Williams’ performance in the 4-1 win over Georgia speaks for itself: an assist for the equaliser, the third goal to make sure of the victory and — quite incredibly for a forward against such an aggressive and front-footed defence — not a single misplaced pass. Oh, and his birthday is one day be-fore Yamal’s, too.
This all comes after an admittedly slow-burning opener in the group stage.
Against Croatia, he was not at his best level as Yamal made everyone sit up and take notice. It was a display of facilitation for others more than starring himself.
But since then, he’s made sure to do exactly that. Giovanni Di Lorenzo may still be trying to untwist his feet after the tormenting he received from Williams as Spain edged Italy, and on Sunday night in Cologne, Otar Kakabadze simply had no way to stop him. The Athletic Club winger drifted infield and sprinted on the outside. He played the simple pass quickly and drew
