ANDY CARROLL scored an incredible 40-yard strike as he found the net again for Amiens SC.
The towering frontman, 34, made a surprise move to the French second tier outfit from Reading this summer.
And he appears to be having no trouble settling into his new surroundings after his audacious effort today.
The former England international pounced on a loose ball near the centre circle in the 39th-minute of Amiens’ trip to Annecy.
He let fly with a first-time looping effort that whizzed over the head of goalkeeper Florian Escales and straight into the net.
And that proved to be enough to earn his team a share of the spoils in Ligue 2 as that levelled the scores following Samuel Ntamack’s early penalty.
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After starting the season in League One with Reading following last season’s relegation, he signed for Amiens on deadline day in a move that was hailed the “most random transfer ever” by fans.
It took Carroll six matches to get off the mark for his new employers, but now it seems that his confidence is sky-high as he scored in back-to-back matches for the first time since last December.
The clip of his wonder strike soon went viral on social media, and fans were quick to jokingly call for Gareth Southgate to bring him back for England at this summer’s Euros.
One wrote: “Get. Him. On. That. Plane. @GarethSouthgate.”
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Another said: “Andy Carroll update from France: he’s having a lovely old time.”
While a fellow fan commented: “The big man is back in biz.”
Carroll burst on to the scene at his hometown club Newcastle United as a youngster and his 31 goals in 80 appearances earned him a £35m move to Liverpool in 2011.
He won a League Cup during his time at Anfield but he struggled to replicate his goalscoring form for the Reds and he was loaned to West Ham in his second season.
Carroll quickly became a fan favourite at the Hammers and joined them permanently in 2013.
The ace spent six seasons in East London but that spell was severely disrupted by injuries and limited him to just 33 goals in 126 league appearances.
Carroll made an emotional return to Newcastle in 2019 for two seasons but struggled again for regular action and he left to sign for Reading on a six-month contract.
But he departed the Royals for West Brom in January 2022 but headed back to Reading at the end of that season after three goals in 15 outings.
Last term he found the net nine times in 32 games – but that was not enough to save the Berkshire team from dropping out of the Championship.
Now he and partner Billi Mucklow and their two children seem to be enjoying their new adventure in France.
Discussing his new surroundings with the Daily Mail, Carroll recently said: “Here, I can take my children to the zoo and they don’t have to say, ‘come on dad!’ while people ask for photos or autographs.
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“In Amiens, I can walk into a bakery and buy a pain au chocolat without anyone saying ‘How was the match? Can I have a photo?’
“I feel like I’m normal, I just wanted to go out and be free, be me.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
