Carter closing in on her best
Reggae Girl scored her first international goal in two years against Bermuda
Published:Saturday | February 19, 2022 | 12:10 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
She may not be close to her best as yet, but national striker Trudi Carter described her return to the Reggae Girlz team after more than a two-year absence as a relief, fuelling a winning start to their 2023 World Cup ambitions.
Carter was on the scoresheet as Jamaica cruised to a 4-0 win over Bermuda in their Concacaf World Cup qualifying Group C first-round opener on Thursday at the National Stadium. They managed to replicate the same scoreline they posted on August 27, 2018, at the same stage of the competition, with Carter also on the scoresheet that day.
For Carter, her performance has brought things full circle after a knee injury in 2020 cost her a contract extension with Italian club AS Roma in that year. The added effect of the COVID-19 pandemic caused her to be without a club for a year until she signed with Lithuanian outfit FC Gintra last July.
“That goal was definitely a relief, getting back professionally and overseas playing again and I was happy to help the team with a victory,” Carter told The Gleaner.
7-0 win over St Kitts
It was her first international goal in two years as the last time that she found the net was during Reggae Girlz’s 7-0 win over St Kitts and Nevis in the final game of their unsuccessful Tokyo Olympic qualifying campaign. It would also be the last time she would feature in the team before the pandemic brought international play to a halt.
As a member of the core group that went to the 2019 World Cup in France, she said that she was pleased with the effort of the new additions to the squad. However, she says that their road to the final round of qualifying will not be as straightforward despite being the favourites to advance.
“I think the girls came out really good today (Thursday), really confident. In the last performance (against Bermuda), we beat them 4-0 and this year we beat them 4-0 again with a completely new team. Most of those players it is my first time seeing them,” Carter said. “All of the Caribbean teams are getting much better, so I don’t think that they (Caribbean games) will be walkovers any more.”
Her path back to her best still has more hurdles to clear according to her, but she says that consistent play will allow her to return to that level.
“I don’t think I’m close yet but I am getting there. With maybe more game time and more practice and training, I will definitely get back to myself,” Carter said.
Jamaica will play Grenada in their second Concacaf World Cup qualifying Group C game tomorrow at 4 p.m. Grenada were drubbed 9-0 by the Dominican Republic in their opening match on Wednesday.