The Gateshead-born striker was not in favour with the vast majority of the MOTD mouth-pieces before the squad was picked.
But his performance against Sweden showed the lad can rise above it all.
Alan Shearer, as I'm sure we all know, would have taken Peter Crouch to the Ukraine "because he has more experience than Carroll, and his goalscoring record for England is special."
Jamie Carragher took a swipe at Newcastle for not getting the best out of Carroll, saying: "He would not move when we arrived from Newcastle, there was no movement in the box.
"He was the same for most of the season, but picked up towards the end, when he frightened the life out of Chelsea and started to look a Premiership player."
But the fact remains - Chris Hughton got more out of Andy Carroll than Kenny Dalglish ever did.
Hughton played to Carroll's strengths - Dalglish used him for a 'bit part' to compliment his bigger stars.
That doesn't work with the Geordie Boy. You either set the play to suit him ... or don't bother at all.