Nico Williams was forced to backpedal after a controversial comment following the Netherlands’ 2-2 Nations League draw with Spain.
The two teams played out an enthralling quarter-final tie in Rotterdam and now face a decider in Valencia on Sunday.
Speaking after the game, Athletic Bilbao‘s Williams was very confident, saying: “I’m sure we’ll paint their faces in Spain.”
The comment was seen as arrogant by the Dutch press, and quickly put to Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman who said: “He speaks for himself. As the Netherlands coach, I’m proud of our performance.
“We know we have a very tough match ahead of us, but we’re not going to make it easy on Sunday.”
Dutch star Xavi Simons was slightly more shocked, responding: “Uuuh… Did he say that? Well, fine. We’ll see on Sunday.
“If they say that, it means they’re confident. It’s fine, they’re the current European champions. We have to respect them, and on Sunday when the referee blows his whistle, we’ll see what happens.”
However, Williams felt he had been misrepresented, and returned to the media to put the record straight.
“I didn’t say it like that,” he told journalists before one told him everything was fine and he added: “Yeah, but I’m not like that, man.”
Later, getting on the team bus, he added: “It wasn’t my intention, really.”
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