Slaven Bilic described Andy Carroll as the best header of a ball in the world after the striker scored a hat-trick for West Ham United against Arsenal on Saturday.
Carroll was unstoppable, netting twice just before half-time and again early in the second half, as West Ham recovered from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 in a riveting London derby at Upton Park.
The former Newcastle United and Liverpool forward made the last of his nine England appearances in November 2012 since when a succession of injuries have disrupted his career.
But he proved on Saturday that, when fit and firing, he is a real handful for defences, particularly with his aerial ability.
“Andy Carroll has everything. It’s impossible to stop him,” West Ham manager Bilic said. “Heading, he’s maybe the best in the world. He has to stay away from those injuries.”
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Carroll, who played at Euro 2012 and scored a majestic header against Sweden, reduced Arsenal’s defence to nervous jitters at Upton Park.
He dragged his side back into contention when he headed home Aaron Cresswell’s cross and a minute later showed great athleticism to volley an equaliser.
Then he soared above Arsenal’s defence to head his side into the lead early in the second half, although it was not enough to give his side the victory they deserved as Laurent Koscielny salvaged a point for the visitors.
Carroll’s eight-minute hat-trick equalled the fastest one seen this season by Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and he managed 10 attempts at goal in a display that will re-open the debate about his England credentials.
“Without a doubt,” Carroll told BT Sport when asked if he was still thinking of a call-up. “You have to keep that in the back of your head but I have to play each game here and see how it goes.”
Former England forward Ian Wright, summarising for BT Sport, said Carroll offered a unique threat.
“He can cause any central defensive partnership in Europe problems if you get that kind of service into him.”
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KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY
July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington
July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon
1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024
1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs
2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website
2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006
2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black
2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year
2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video
2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started
2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products
2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013
2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS
2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa
2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition
2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone
The biog
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Favourite city: Cape Town, South Africa
Hobby: Running. "I like to think I’m artsy but I’m not".
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Favourite spot in Abu Dhabi: Saadiyat beach
