MX23RW : Thursday, December 26 02:34:31| >> :120:70099:70099:

Eddie Nketiah 'honoured' to break Alan Shearer's Under-21 goal record

Eddie Nketiah 'honoured' to break Alan Shearer's Under-21 goal record
© Reuters
The Arsenal striker has beaten the scoring record previously held by Shearer and Francis Jeffers.

Eddie Nketiah admits he is humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as Alan Shearer after becoming England Under-21s' record scorer.

The Arsenal striker scored his 14th goal in just 12 Under-21 games to clinch a 2-1 win over Turkey and pass Shearer and Francis Jeffers' mark.

He scored with two minutes left at Molineux on Tuesday, having missed a penalty five minutes earlier, as England clinched a place at Euro 2021.

Nketiah was just six when Shearer, who scored 260 Premier League goals, retired in 2006 but knows the importance of being mentioned with him.

"I've seen a lot of clips of Alan Shearer playing, he was a great player and holds the Premier League goalscoring record, which is phenomenal," said the 21-year-old, who hit a post with his 82nd-minute spot-kick.

"It's an honour to be around his name. I have a long way to get to where he was. It's an honour to have broken his record.

"It's early doors but there's a lot more to give, I can play better, there's a lot more in me. It's about pushing myself day in, day out.

"To break the record is a great feeling and one for me and my family to be proud of. It will be a night I'll remember."

Nketiah equalled the Young Lions' goal record after scoring in last week's surprise 3-3 draw in Andorra.

His historic strike on Tuesday came after Huseyin Turkmen's own goal gave Aidy Boothroyd's side an opener before goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale saved Halil Dervisoglu's penalty.

Dervisoglu grabbed a stoppage-time consolation but England, top of Group Three, reached next year's championships with two games to spare.

The groups in Hungary and Slovenia will be held in March, with the knock-out stages in May and June after UEFA rescheduled the tournament amid the coronavirus crisis.

Nketiah said: "It's a nice feeling and something we've been working towards. We've had some very good results. We were disappointed with the Andorra game and wanted to put things right.

"We'll look forward to the Euros, we've got two more games to prepare and make sure we're right.

"We had to dig in but we hold high standards, we are good players and it's good to look at and be harsh.

"We could have played a lot better in the two games but we have qualified."

ID:418394: cacheID:418394:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3835:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
England's Harry Maguire is shown a red card against Denmark in the UEFA Nations League on October 14, 2020
Read Next:
A look at Harry Maguire's recent struggles after England red card
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!