Newly crowned World Cup of Darts champions Luke Littler and Luke Humphries were among those asked by Sky Sports to build a fantasy darts team from the world of football. Humphries went straight for Virgil van Dijk, backing the Dutch defender's presence and mentality. 'I choose Virgil van Dijk,' said Humphries. 'He is good, strong and has an excellent mentality. Basically like most Dutch people.'
Littler then offered up Cristiano Ronaldo, only for Humphries to raise the obvious practical issue. 'Would he ever have thrown a dart?' Humphries wondered aloud. Littler laughed and admitted: 'Probably not.' Ronaldo still had support elsewhere. Josh Rock also went down the Portugal route, naming Bruno Fernandes before adding the former Real Madrid forward as the man to finish things off. 'Bruno Fernandes, the Manchester United player, I would definitely choose,' said Rock. 'He is involved in almost all of his team's goals. And Cristiano Ronaldo to finish off the scores.'
The Scottish answers had a clear Rangers flavour. Cameron Menzies first mentioned Scott McTominay, then brought Lawrence Shankland into the discussion. 'Shankland has just signed for my favourite club Rangers, so that helps a little bit, of course,' said Menzies. Gary Anderson stayed with the same club theme, choosing John Souttar.
Michael van Gerwen gave the most darts-specific answer. The Dutchman picked Wout Weghorst, not because of footballing reputation alone, but because he believes the striker already has experience with a set of darts. 'I choose Wout Weghorst,' said Van Gerwen. 'I know he plays a lot of darts.' Gian van Veen asked whether other internationals also play, but Van Gerwen still had Weghorst at the front of his list. 'There are many internationals who play darts, but Wout stands out for me.'
Ronaldo brings the star power, Van Dijk brings the mentality and Fernandes brings the scoring influence. Van Gerwen, though, may already have found the safest football pick for a real trip to the oche.
