E We are 165.3 meters high, on the heliport just above the 40th floor of Torre Iberdrola, the highest point from Bilbao. At our feet the Guggenheim witnesses a 27-year-old player, Iñaki Williams (Bilbao, 1994) who has achieved an outrage: being the footballer with the most games in a row in all of history. There are 203, as of April 2016. Not a pandemic has managed to stop him. One pass.
The view of San Mamés is brutal from up here. He takes a moment, separates himself from the entire group that was preparing this report, and takes out his mobile. He takes a picture of it.
It is not just how far it has risen, it is how it has managed. And what lies ahead …
Question. Congratulations. You are, again, LaLiga history. There are 203 consecutive games. What was the first sensation after achieving this historical record?
Answer. I am still not very aware of having done it, but it is to be proud and happy. They are milestones that are not achieved every day. It was not something that worried me very much, but as the matches got closer and I saw that I was getting closer and closer, I wanted to achieve it. I have been able to achieve a dream and make history with the Athletic shirt. I’m very happy.
P. Have you been a little more careful these last few days? We admit that we were looking at the last hour of each day to check that everything was fine … Has there been any change in recent weeks for fear of missing the next game?
R. No. I’ve tried to wear it normally … Well, sometimes he would tell me “don’t screw it up now” . I have not reserved and I have given everything to the maximum. I have already fulfilled it. Now … for what’s next.
He was leaving approached the record and thought “don’t screw it up now”
P. It has not failed since April 20, 2016. There is no League if Iñaki Williams does not play.
R. It looks awesome. These days speaking with colleagues more thoroughly on the subject, the physical trainer said that what I have achieved is crazy. I have been lucky to have no injuries, not even a cold, and the coaches have been able to count on me. Of course I have good genetics and it is also what I like.
P. Larrañaga and Arconada, two from La Real, opened the account. Athletic could not be below!
R. When I equalized the record, I saw that Larrañaga congratulated me for it. It had been many years without anyone having approached him. He said that he was glad that an uncle from Bilbao could do it and I already tell you that I am proud and happy.
P. It is clear that behind these 203 games there is some luck, but above all a lot of work, because there is also no trace of the injuries he had at the beginning of his career. Is there something you take special care of outside of Lezama?
R. Depending on the time of the season, the body asks you for more rest or to do some type of exercise, but it is true that I do not try to go crazy with them. At Lezama we are surrounded by great professionals and I try to do what is necessary to perform and arrive in optimal conditions every Sunday.
Racism exists and it must be eradicated: that we touch people like me is the least of it, those who suffer it daily are the invisible people who are on the street
P. In his time, when Cristiano signed for Real Madrid, it was striking that he did 3,000 sit-ups, but he always said that the key is rest. That many times it is more difficult to rest well than to exercise.
R. Yes that’s how it is. The high performance athlete needs to recover and rest. I base a lot of my recovery on rest, on hydrating, above all, very well. Rest hours are essential. I take my nap and at night I try to go to bed early, not be with my cell phone in bed. The truth is that it takes to get to training and compete well.
Q. The competition has it at home. His brother Nico is 19 years old and has participated in all seven games this season. It is to catch you at any time.
R. You have to be careful. Nico is young and has just started. It has a lot to polish, but the head is where it needs to be. He knows that he has to work hard and he is working on it. It is a big surprise for everyone. I’m very proud of what he’s doing, but he knows he still has a lot of room for improvement. Everything happens by working daily to achieve what is proposed.
P. And now that? These 203 games are a beginning. I don’t see Marcelino taking him out of a match.
R. Nerd. I don’t want to! I want to continue adding and enjoying what I do.
P. Have you counted how many matches you can go?
R. Until I am 300 or so I am not going to stop. I am demanding with myself and I am from Bilbao. You have to demand yourself. I want to continue adding to leave the podium very high and that the next one has it very complicated. Beyond the ball
P. We have talked about his brother Nico. I do not know if you have noticed a social maturity in football (which may not be the most socially mature sector) after you were asked a lot about being black in Athletic and now nobody is going with that. There has been an evolution.
R. Yes, in the end society with my arrival in the first team has gotten used to it and it is no longer so surprising that there is another black in the team and that he is my brother. Society is evolving. People emigrate, change countries. We are all very well integrated and I have been lucky to fall down. People are proud of what I do for Athletic. I think both the club and I have to be grateful to each other.
It is that it should not even be talked about if a black gets a medal or if a black plays for Athletic, it would have to be something integrated into society
P. Of course it has contributed. I remember some unfortunate episode in some stadium but for a long time, it seems that it is being left behind. How do you see it?
R. Well obviously racism exists. I’ve said it more than once. That we touch people like me is the least. It is important that it be eradicated, but those who suffer it daily are the invisible people on the street. I am here to try to make people aware that we are all the same. I don’t have to give a speech. Each one is master of his actions and tries to educate young people in the best possible way. And I, who have the scope to reach many people, I have to try to make them see that we are all the same and not take steps backwards.
P. What did you think of Ana Peleteiro’s speech after getting her medal at the Olympics? Normalized a situation that it is strange that it continues to attract attention.
R. The thing is, she wouldn’t even have to say it. It would have to be something integrated into society and not talk about whether a black gets a medal or whether a black plays for Athletic. Well no. We are all people, regardless of color, race, or gender. That is what has to evolve and surely the kids who now see us and follow us have to stay with that.
In machismo, homophobia or racism it seems that we are going backwards instead of accepting that we are all the same
P. Now that you talk about sex. I am interested in that point in Spanish football, which continues to have a lot of room for improvement. Why don’t we know any gay professional footballers? What happens so that a boy, in Spain, in 2021, feels that he cannot speak openly about something like this. I do not understand. What problem would there be in a locker room? Imagine that you have lived in the locker room with a gay player, and that you did not feel comfortable enough to tell them. How is it explained?
R. It has always been a taboo subject. Society has made people afraid to say that they are homosexual. Many times we have to get out of the mold. The first to do it publicly and openly must have the support of all people to take the step forward. It would help.
P. And why hasn’t it happened?
R. Well, I don’t know, I couldn’t say. Perhaps because in society it is frowned upon. And it is a mistake because you have to accept people as they are. I, from my position as an Athletic player, would help everyone to open up freely and say what they feel and what comes from within. I am not to give speeches to anyone, but I am to try to open my eyes. Whether in homophobia, machismo or racism it seems that we are going back in time instead of accepting that we are all the same.
The first player to come out of the closet should have the support of all football. Of course I will have mine
P. Statistically, it is impossible not to have had a homosexual partner. At some point that person has been afraid to tell. Why? How could it harm you?
R. Well, maybe the fear of criticism from social networks, of people who judge behind a screen. I think that is the fear that a person can have. Society does not help people make decisions freely. We are trying to show that the normal of exemplary life are certain things and not. It is necessary to normalize the day to day.
P. But in football it seems more difficult despite the fact that sometimes it is a vehicle to open many paths, in this matter not.
R. Yes. It has always been said that “football is for men”, and they are things that make people not progress and live locked in four walls and have no empathy. Do not think about the suffering that the one next to you has. In society in general it is difficult for people to say that I am such or I am Easter . People are afraid to say what they really think.
From back to football
P. The ball falls to him again. In this review of 203 consecutive games, who is the defender he does not want to see again.
R. Well, I would tell you that one of the ones that bothered me the most is Djené. Very fast, very hard and strokes very well, turns very fast.
P. And who is that goalkeeper who gives him the impression that he is bigger every day they cross paths.
R. Courtois. One of the goalkeepers that when you go one against one and you can shoot, shrinks very well and becomes so big that it is very difficult.
P . The selection? He has touched it but it does not finish opening it to door.
R. It is something that I have always had in mind and I work for it. Doing things right may one day go well. Everything happens to put in, to work and to do things well. Hopefully I can knock that door down.
P. Talk about dialing. He is aware that if he scored more than 15 goals per season, Athletic would be too small for all the great offers from Europe that he would have.
R. We forwards live off the goal and that happens through streaks. No striker puts all he has. I am aware that it is a facet that I must improve, but not only in that. I have been progressing year after year and every time I am more comfortable playing 9. Marcelino takes care of me and is teaching me a lot. Every time I feel more comfortable playing with a 4-4-2 and every time I feel more comfortable. I accept that people can ask me for goals because I know I can do them. Practically every game I am having chances to score.
Q. His debut as a scorer was in the Europa League, against Torino. How much do you miss playing in Europe?
R. Much. Since I went up it was 3 or 4 consecutive years playing Europe. When you do it so soon it seems like it is easy, but now that 3 or 4 years have passed without going you realize how difficult it is. Travel, see other cities, go with the fans … this year we are very excited to be able to achieve it because it would be an incentive for all of Bilbao.
They always say “football is for men”, and it is something that makes people not progress, live locked up and have no empathy
P. Which team do you notice when you go in front of the TV to watch European leagues?
R. One of the ones I like to follow the most is Liverpool, because of their style of play. In preseason we played against them at Anfield, I had never been there, and I was impressed with their fans and the great players. But above all with the mentality that faced the game. They knew they were superior to us and they had the same respect for us as all their rivals. That’s what makes them great.
Youtubers or journalists
P. Are you comfortable?
R. Yes, yes.
P. I tell you this because of the open debate now, based on the interviews that Ibai has done, with that footballers are more comfortable with the streamers . Do you follow them?
R. I am not much of streamers, nor of reading the newspapers because I am to evade what can be generated around me, from what is talked about me both on social networks and in newspapers and I cannot control because it is outside of me . Maybe I can understand those who stop doing interviews with the media because in the end there are journalists who try to find the tickle and you are not comfortable. They are looking for a headline. Ibai, I’ve seen a video for him, makes people feel comfortable and at ease, so that they talk to each other as normally as they would with a friend.
Ibai makes people feel comfortable and perhaps with journalists we are more on guard
P. If I talk to you as a friend, we could joke that how you are not going to have 203 games in a team that cannot sign foreign forwards … I don’t know, it’s an example. The point is that this can also be done in a common medium. It is a fictional border. A joking conversation can also be entered here.
R. Of course, but it is like a barrier that has been put up, which is difficult to cross. We have prejudices and if you go to a place with prejudices it is no longer you. Sometimes you are going to do an interview and without knowing the journalist you put yourself on guard because he works for a certain outlet and that makes you be on your guard. The same thing has happened to you before that the person from now has not done anything to you but because of the above … If you do not do something at ease, you do not enjoy.
A brother on board
P. By the way, playing with his brother at Athletic has to be a rush.
R. I still go to Lezama and train with him without being aware that I am with my brother.
P. And at home what do they say to him, to be careful with Nico like when he was little?
R. They are audios of my mother. How is Nico doing? How do you see him? Well, like when we went to school and he asked me if he had eaten the sandwich or had a good snack. It took him eight years and he is learning. Having me as a support also serves to make it easier for colleagues to integrate. At Athletic we are a family, we are friends and we all share the same dream. Integrating like this is much easier.
P. What he has achieved is that Nico is not Iñaki’s brother and is making his own way.
R. Our lives, although similar, have been totally different. Nico has things that I don’t have and vice versa. We are brothers, but very different. You can see that in the field. Nico has a totally different handling of the ball than mine, I have a speed and power that Nico still does not have. We pride ourselves on fulfilling our dreams, but we do not compete with each other. Each one lives his film and people do not have to compare us. Nico is going to achieve everything he sets his mind to because he has a roof that he still doesn’t even know what he’s capable of. I am his older brother. I try to help him and protect him, but when he has to give him cane, he does not care when he has to give him soap. It is a joy to have my little brother, who is very respectful.
I am not here to give speeches but to try to raise awareness
P. I’ve seen him worried on more than one occasion because he thinks Nico has to add even more body.
R. Yes. Going from Second B to First is not easy. It is not that it is put with a lot of volume, but it does take more strength.
P. How are you doing that there is a thong and go for Nico ….
R. It happened to me at the Metropolitano. My brother arrived late with a ticket to Oblak and it was Giménez and picked him up …. I was not in the field. I saw it from afar and I said it was a shame because I would have gone to separate.
P. You said you were comfortable. Shall we meet for a navigation route through the estuary celebrating the 300th match?
R. It’s done.
Note: This article has been indexed to our site. We do not claim ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here
Apple iPhone 12, 64GB, (Product) Red - AT&T (Renewed Premium)
$266.00 (as of November 6, 2024 18:51 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
PULIDIKI Car Cleaning Gel Universal Detailing Kit Automotive Dust Car Crevice Cleaner Slime Auto Air Vent Interior Detail Removal for Car Putty Cleaning Keyboard Cleaner Car Accessories Blue
$5.59 (as of November 6, 2024 18:51 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom for Nintendo Switch
$59.99 (as of November 6, 2024 18:51 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Nugget Ice Makers Countertop with Soft Chewable Pellet Ice, 7 Mins Ice Making, 35.5Lbs/24Hrs, Pebble Ice Maker Machine with Self-Cleaning/Ice Basket/Ice Scoop for Home/Office/Bar, Black
$149.00 (as of November 6, 2024 18:44 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
