The celebrations when Athletic Club won their first Copa del Rey in 40 years will go down in history. Not only did they get the chance to take the barge or ‘Gabarra’ out on the river in Bilbao, but a reported million people turned out for wild festivities. Inaki and Nico Williams, two of the faces of their victory have revealed some of the details of the day.
In particular, it was young midfielder Unai Gomez (nicknamed Rocky for his likeness with Sylvester Stallone) who suffered the effects of the day, and had to be led away by Ander Herrera after biting Mikel Jauregizar’s ear from behind. Nico Williams told David Broncano of La Resistencia that the team had to keep themselves together in order to get through their visit to the town hall, and the greetings with politicians.
“The way he handles the shots, he didn’t stop. Look, I told him, he had to calm down, that we had to go to City Hall…”.
Unai Gómez alias Rocky Balboa ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/INFGb5wSc0
— 🇵🇲 (@sancetazas) April 11, 2024
Meanwhile Inaki Williams revealed that they were still feeling the effects the following Sunday, as they drew 1-1 with Villarreal.
Inaki Williams on Athletic Club's first match back after the Copa del Rey victory against Villarreal:
"1-1. We almost won drunk."pic.twitter.com/RKp3pkBeKJ
— Football España (@footballespana_) April 30, 2024
“We drank beer like animals, enjoying something that was historic. They have always told us what it was like, but experiencing it firsthand in person exceeded all expectations. There were more than a million people in Bilbao.”
On the Villarreal match, he explained that it was “1-1, we almost won while drunk.”
Los Leones were unfortunate not to, through a controversial Dani Parejo penalty in stoppage time, having dominated the game. That will no doubt be lost in memory alongside the prior celebrations though, which included not only the city-wide festivities, but an impromptu street party with the players and the fans, with one walking home with Inaki Williams that night.
