YOUR DAY-BY-DAY GUIDE
I’ll wind up my old pal Alli, says Wales star Williams
GEORGE WILLIAMS says he knows just how to wind up best mate Dele Alli when England face Wales on Thursday.
The pair have been close friends since playing together at the MK Dons academy aged 10. Now, a decade later, they find themselves on opposite sides of the biggest rivalry at Euro 2016.
‘We’re best mates but I’m not sure we will be too friendly on that day,’ said Williams, grinning. ‘I know just how to push his buttons and I’ll definitely try and wind him up — 100 per cent.
‘Dele is quite chilled out off the pitch but he has some fire in him when he plays and he will have to watch that temper during the tournament — especially if I’m close by! He has always been like that and I don’t think he will change. But it has made him the player he is today.’
Williams, now at Fulham, always backed Alli to make it as a professional but even he has been stunned at his mate’s rapid rise with Tottenham this season.
‘Dele has had a crazy season that was just out of the blue,’ said Williams. ‘But I see him doing all his tricks he used to do when we were kids playing in the park after school in Milton Keynes.
‘That’s the great thing about him — he plays as if he’s just in a kick-about with mates but he’s doing it in the Premier League. His rise is incredible. He was around for a few games but as soon as he got a sniff of the first team he took his chance and he was one of the top players in the league all season.’
Williams qualifies for Wales through his Gwent-born mother Helen and was chased by England after representing the Dragons at Under-16s level.
But after winning his first cap under Chris Coleman, he hopes to have the job of stopping England at Stade Bollaert-Delelis. ‘All the games are massive but everyone knows the England game will have something extra,’ said Williams.
He was at the home of Alli’s adopted brother Harry Hickford when he watched Wales qualify for Euro 2016. And that provided every incentive to battle back from ruptured knee ligaments.
Williams said: ‘Chris Coleman had called me in hospital the day after my surgery and that really meant a lot. It kept me positive. But watching Wales qualify gave me another big push to get on the plane.’