Same blood, two jerseys: the Williams, the story of the brothers who defend Spain and Ghana

In the duel against Japan, the selection of Spain He was close to a surprise World Cup elimination. Finally, they qualified for the round of 16, although second in Group E, behind the Japanese. From now on, the casting of Luis Enrique has a no lesser challenge in front of him: Morocco. The North Africans are the only remaining African representatives in the tournament, after Senegal’s elimination at the hands of England.

The former Barcelona coach opted to bring Qatar to a renewed squad, with more experienced inclusions, like Sergio Busquets. In reality, the Hispanic workforce has an average age of 25.4 years, the second youngest among those classified in the round of 16 of the World Cup. One of the new faces of European Red is Nicholas Williams (20) 2002 category, striker for Athletic Club de Bilbao. He is the protagonist of one of the most striking stories around the planetary event.

There have been pairs of brothers who have played in the World Cup. In this edition, there are several who have shared a box: Eden and Thorgan Hazard in Belgium, Lucas and Theo Hernández in France, to name just a few examples of life and flag partners. Looking back, there are the Boatengs, who played in South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014 for different teams (Jerome, with Germany, and Kevin-Prince, with Ghana). They can be considered to have the same father and were raised by separate mothers in Germany.

But what happened with Nico and Iñaki Williams has nuances that give this story some differentiation. They are the first father and mother brothers in a World Cup with two different teams. Nico does it for Spain; Iñaki did it with Ghana. The same blood, by both parents, but a different shirt. Both, teammates of the Basque team, have Ghanaian parents, who fled to Europe in search of a better life. They are both Spanish: Iñaki was born in Bilbao and Nico, in Pamplona.

The eldest, Iñaki (28), had played a match with the Spanish national team in 2016. It was a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, since this year, determined to represent the Black Stars team, the country of their parents.

Félix and María, parents of the two footballers, are African refugees who left their nation to start their family history over again. In 1990 they moved to Europe and their first goal was to settle in the UK, but they were recommended to go to Spain. The trip took them to Bilbao in 1994. Iñaki, the eldest of the brothers, is named after a priest who helped the Williams find work.

In a joint note they gave to the newspaper Marca, before the World Cup in Qatar, the brothers evoked the complex odyssey that their parents had to go through. “We weren’t aware of everything that happened until they told us when they were older. Now you value all they have done to give us both a better life. There were times in our childhood when we missed them, but now you understand that they gave everything so that Nico and I had this gift,” said Iñaki.

In the same case, Nico told how strong it was for both of them to see, in Africa, very young people working in the fields: “I had a shiver when he told me and thought about it. They were younger than me and seeing them working like that makes you think you are privileged thanks to your parents”.

If there were any combinations, Spain and Ghana could meet in Qatar, which ultimately didn’t happen. While the Europeans are still in the race, the Africans said goodbye in the group stage after their loss to Uruguay. Iñaki played all three games (252 minutes) and could not convert. He did not influence offensive matters for his team.

For its part, Nico has 102 minutes in the World Cup. He played three games, including one as a starter (the last against Japan). As an attacking alternative, he can be a right winger or a centre-forward substitute, whose main card is Álvaro Morata.