GIAN VAN VEEN named Luke Littler in his dream darts five-a-side team – and backed himself to bang in the goals.
The superstar duo faced off in the World Darts Championship final in January.
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Gian van Veen gave JattvibeSport his dream five-a-side team of darts players Credit: JattvibeSport
Manchester United fan Luke Littler got the nod in midfield Credit: Getty
But the Dutchman is happy for them to be on the same side in the ultimate darts football squad.
His five features two Dutchmen and three Englishmen – including a giant 6ft 6ins goalkeeper, football-mad Manchester United and England fan Littler and his fellow World Cup winner.
Speaking ahead of the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York, Van Veen gave JattvibeSport his picks.
The world No3 explained: “I’ll go Wessel Nijman in goal, he’s quite tall so I think that might work.
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“Defenders, I’ll put Luke Humphries – I think he’s quite energetic – and I’ll get Nathan Aspinall in there as well.
“In the midfield, I’ve seen Luke Littler strike a ball a couple of times, so I’ll probably put him in the midfield.
“And I’ll put myself up in striker, because that’s what I was when I was a kid.”
Van Veen, 24, has been keeping a close eye on his beloved Holland at the World Cup – having been part of the famous Oranje fan march at Euro 2024.
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Littler and Luke Humphries teamed up to win the Darts World Cup Credit: Getty
But after both he and his country have fallen one win short of being crowned world champions, would he rather win the individual PDC prize or see his country lift the ultimate trophy in football?
Van Veen added: “Myself, 100 per cent, of course.
“I’m a sportsman myself, so I want to pick up the World Championship title myself.
“I came close this year, hopefully the Netherlands can come really close this year as well, and who knows, they might do it in the final.
“I think it’s going to be difficult. Especially after that first game, my hopes were very high, but then beating Sweden 5-1, I was like, ‘Okay, in this tournament we’re looking good.’
“Tunisia is just a free roll, we’re already through, so just win that game, get first in the group, and then it’s going to be difficult against probably Morocco or Brazil.
“But we never know, as long as we win that game, then I’m happy.
“With all the teams I’ve seen so far, I think France are going to win it this year.”
The Dutchman is unable to get to any matches while out in North America, but continued: “I’m a massive football fan, or soccer as they call it here. I’ve watched nearly every game so far.
“As everyone sees, the Dutch march behind the bus, going from left to right, jumping around. The fans are crazy. I was there two years ago at the Euros in Germany.
“I was part of that Dutch march, and it’s fantastic to be there. It’s nice that our small country is represented so well in the world.”
