Williams and Yeremy Pino’s tournaments not over as injuries less severe than first feared
Spain winger Nico Williams is frustrated at a “completely unnecessary” challenge from Uruguay midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz that left him with “one of the worst days” of his life after sustaining an injury in their final Group H game.
The left winger has faced a lot of injury problems over the past year and indeed arrived at the World Cup still recovering from a hamstring injury. He has not started any of Spain’s three games played so far in the tournament, coming off the bench against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
He came on for only the final 14 minutes of the game.
“Today is one of the worst days of my life,” Williams wrote on social media. “I am injured again after a very difficult year. Yesterday, I suffered a new injury following an incident where a fellow professional acted out of frustration, unhappiness, and sadness over the situation he was going through.
“In my opinion, it was a play that could have been avoided, as it was completely unnecessary. But this won’t stop me.”
Two of Spain’s wide players Williams and Yeremy Pino both sustained injuries in the eventual 1-0 victory, although initial medical assessments have proved to be less severe than first feared.
The Spanish football federation said scans revealed that Pino had suffered an acromioclavicular sprain rather than the fractured collarbone initially suspected by coach Luis de la Fuente, who had feared the player might be out of the tournament.
Williams, meanwhile, sustained an adductor injury. Spain added that there was still a chance that both players could be available for the last 32, but it would depend on their recovery. The update is encouraging for Spain after fears that both Williams and Pino could miss the remainder of the tournament.
Spain are facing serious fitness concerns on the wings. Besides Williams and Pino, new Liverpool signing Victor Munoz is also injured and has yet to play any minutes at all in the tournament. Lamine Yamal came to the World Cup injured and had to be used a substitute in the first game against Cape Verde.
He has now started the last two games but his minutes are still being carefully managed. Spain finished top of Group H with the victory over Uruguay.
