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Nketiah ready to seize England chance

BURTON UPON TRENT, United Kingdom: Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah believes his first England call-up has come at the right time as he stakes his claim to be Harry Kane’s deputy at Euro 2024. The 24-year-old is England’s all-time top goalscorer at under-21 level having netted 16 in 17 games. But after bursting onto the scene as an 18-year-old, Nketiah’s future at Arsenal looked in doubt until an injury to Gabriel Jesus gave him the opportunity to impress for Mikel Arteta’s men last season. Nketiah has also deputised for Jesus this season, scoring twice in four Premier League games, to earn his call-up to Gareth Southgate’s squad. “I think I am a much better player now than I was two or three years ago. It is really nice and I am coming in at a good time,” said Nketiah on Tuesday. “I feel confident and I feel ready to continue to improve.

Donald names ‘generational’ talent Aberg plus Rose, Lowry among Ryder Cup picks

LONDON: Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald picked rising star Ludvig Aberg plus major winners Justin Rose and Shane Lowry among his six wildcards for the tournament in Rome. His other selections for the 12-man team to take on the United States are Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka and Nicolai Hojgaard. They join automatic qualifiers Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntire in Donald’s team, which will attempt to regain the trophy at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club from September 29 to October 1. Europe suffered a record 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits in 2021. Aberg only turned professional in June, but the former world number one amateur won the final qualifying event in Switzerland on Sunday with a final round of 64 at Crans-sur-Sierre. The 23-year-old Swede has made the quickest transition from the amateur ranks to the Ryder Cup in the contest’s history, eclipsing the previous record set by Sergio Garcia, who made his debut in September 1999 after turning professional following April’s Masters. “We have great depth of talent in Europe, and that is perfectly illustrated with the team we now have confirmed for Rome, which is a strong blend of players with previous Ryder Cup experience combined with exciting and talented rookies,” said Donald. “I’m really pleased to have this team now in place and we are all looking forward to going to Rome later this month and trying to win back the Ryder Cup.” Speaking about Aberg, the Europe skipper said: “We obviously knew what he was doing in the college scene. You look at what he did in those four years and the only comparables really were Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm.