When Inaki Williams, a Basque Country-born boy with African roots, made his Athletic Club debut, he was 20 years old and already being hailed as the future of the iconic football club. But even then – he didn’t know the entire story of his family’s hardship and the way they reached Spain.“When my mum’s angry, she swears at us in Ghanaian.When my grandparents call, I speak to them in Twi. I admire and love Ghana, the culture, food, tradition. My parents are from Accra and I really enjoy going,” Inaki Williams pic.twitter.com/vMVY8Gl2BN— Frank Darkwah (@Blaqqkoffi) October 6, 2021 So, Inaki’s mother Maria told him everything. She told him how they had left Ghana and crossed the Sahara without food or water, about those who didn’t make it and how that could have been them. Every sickening detail. How, pregnant with him, she climbed the fence into Melilla, Spain’s north African enclave. And how she and her husband Felix were arrested and helped to reach the city where Inaki was born. In an emotional interview with The Guardian, Inaki spoke about his pride in representing his beloved club and his joy of having the family back together. For a long, hard decade, his father was away, working the worst jobs in London so he could provide something for his wife and two sons. But those days are behind the Williams family because Inaki and his younger brother Nico, both Athletic stars, are now giving their parents a better life.Thursday, 16.00: (3.70) Liberia (3.00) Cape Verde (2.10)Felix and Maria, who didn’t even know she’s been pregnant at the time, embarked on a treacherous trip across the desert in an attempt to reach Melilla, a Spanish city in North Africa. From there, there was a chance of making it to Spain – but the chances weren’t great.”I didn’t know my parents had crossed the desert by foot. I knew my dad had problems with the soles of his feet but not that it was because he had walked barefooted across the Sahara sand at 40, 50 degrees. Traffickers get paid and then halfway say: ‘The journey ends here.’ Chuck you out, leave you with nothing: no water, no food. Kids, old people, women. People go not knowing what’s ahead, if they’ll make it. My mum said: ‘If I knew, I would have stayed.’ She was pregnant with me but didn’t know.”To even get into Melilla, the family from Ghana had to climb a fence and then take the advice from a Caritas lawyer and lie about being from a war zone. “My parents tore up their Ghanaian papers and said they were from Liberia to apply for political asylum. Thanks to that lawyer, we arrived in Bilbao.”We can’t even watch 203 games in a row – and this guy can play in all of them! Take a bow, Inaki WilliamsThe fact that Inaki was born in Bilbao ensured that one day he’d be eligible to play for Athletic, the club that only fields players born in the Basque Country, the region on the northeast of Spain. It was destiny. And even though he’s proud of his roots, Inaki admits that he feels Spanish – or Basque to be more precise. His culture is European, his sense of belonging is in his birth country. That’s why representing The Black Stars wouldn’t be right. He’s hoping to add to the single Spain appearance he’s made in 2016.”I admire and love Ghana, the culture, food, tradition. My parents are from Accra and I really enjoy going. But I wasn’t born or raised there, my culture’s here, and there are players for whom it would mean more. I don’t think it would be right to take the place of someone who really deserves to go and who feels Ghana 100 per cent.”Almost three decades later, Inaki became the player with the highest number of consecutive La Liga appearances. It’s a movie-like story that started with dread and uncertainty before being injected with hope and warmth. It was worth crossing the hot sand for it.
