Cameron Carter-Vickers would savour a tasty reunion with old team-mate Harry Kane to further a fabulous journey which has incorporated selling sweets and juice in school.
There would be special significance in the Celtic star earning an outing against Gareth Southgate’s side in Friday night's World Cup cracker having been born and raised in England. Carter Vickers is on the biggest stage having risen impressively through the game’s ranks from a starting point in Tottenham’s Academy set-up. The Parkhead ace didn’t take long to catch the eye of first-team boss Mauricio Pochettino who sped him into his squad alongside established stars such as Kane. Carter-Vickers was always destined to make the grade and clearly had his head screwed on from a young age on and off the park.
During the tournament, USA media staff have taken their fans behind the scenes in the camp and compiled background stories on all 26 members of their squad. In speaking with each member of the unit, they have taken off-the-wall tales from their stars in stripes.
Carter-Vickers’ chapter centred around the importance of family and also came complete with information on how he was something of a young entrepreneur during his school days. The Celtic star explained: “I grew up in England with my mum and nan. She [nan] is a little bit crazy and always likes to be doing something, even at her age now. She’s 80-odd years old and can’t really sit still for too long.
“She’s always up and about doing stuff. When I was about maybe 14 in school, I probably got the idea from seeing an older kid doing it, I started selling soda and candy in school for a bit of profit.
“My nan would help me with that. She would go to the store and buy the big packs of stuff for cheap prices.
“I would go to school and sell them for a bit of profit. The things I was selling, the school canteen didn’t sell.
“So if you were in school and wanted some candy, I was the only place to go. I got all the customers.
“It wasn’t too under the radar. Mostly my backpack. So, if someone wanted something, I’d get the backpack, pull it out, take the cash and get to my next lesson.
“She loved me being around when I was younger and she’d help me out. Check on what I was spending and what I was bringing home to make sure all the books were correct. She left it all to me and didn’t take a cut!
“Anything I liked to do, she wanted to be a part of. A very loving nan. She was so supportive of me.”
Naturally, that family connection makes for an interesting build-up to the Group B showdown in the Al Bayt Stadium. Carter Vickers qualifies for the States through his American father and his link to both countries gives the game a mouth-watering added edge.
He said: “Obviously, when I saw the group was drawn, and I saw we were in the same group as England, I was excited. They are one of the top teams in the world. To be able to play against them and match up against them to see where you are at is a good thing.
“They’ve got a squad full of top players. So I think we all know that we have to put in one of our best performances to beat them.
“It’s a game that I really want to win, just like any other game in the World Cup. I’m not too sure how I’m going to feel when the game comes around.
“But I do know that I’ll be doing everything I can to try and help the team win. It’s been great for me. From my first camp. I have felt welcomed and enjoyed it. I continue to. It’s always good when you know a bit about your opponents.
“These days, without the amount of resources there are, no matter who you play, you know a bit about them before you go onto the pitch. My family, half of them want us to win. Half want England to win!”
Carter Vickers faces a fight to get action against England. The defender was an unused sub during the opening game against Wales as manager Gregg Berhalter chose a starting pair of Nashville FC star Walker Zimmerman and Fulham’s Tim Ream for the 1-1 draw with the Dragons.
But, if he does get an appearance, the Scottish title holder might go face-to-face with Kane. Carter Vickers admits the England captain was amongst those established stars whom he looked up to during his early days at Spurs. The striker is just three goals away from breaking Wayne Rooney’s all-time national goalscoring record and the Premiership-based stopper has nothing but admiration for the way the English captain has gone about forging a superstar career.
Carter Vickers said: “Training with him, you can see every day how hard he works, his dedication not just on the field, off the field as well. It’s top-notch, and you can see how consistent he has been over the last so many years now.
“That only comes if you are doing the right thing day in and day out. You could say that probably coming from the academy at Tottenham, you look up to players like him and other players in the first team playing well and consistently performing.”
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