Raring to go!
When Tiffany Cameron signed a two-year deal with top-flight Hungarian club Eto FC Gyor, she did so with the World Cup qualifiers in mind, as she intends to positively impact the Reggae Girlz chances of making the 2023 showpiece.
Cameron explained that the trek from Ferencvarosi Torna — where she won the Simple Women’s League title and Hungarian Cup — to Gyor, represents a move of stability in a more competitive environment to continue her development.
Simply put, Cameron’s ambition to repeat her title-winning feat in the Central European country, and by extension, play at another Fifa Women’s World Cup, burns brightly. She is now recharged and ready to put her best foot forward for both club and country.
“I have had such an amazing time at FTC winning the Championship League title and the Hungarian Cup, but I have been offered something that I have been longing for…stability,” Cameron said.
“I am happy to leave Fradi on a high note and I am looking forward to being in a stable environment for the next two years playing for a team that has added some talented players to their roster this year and who are building for the future.
“This stable and competitive environment will help me prepare for another possible World Cup appearance with the Reggae Girlz which is the ultimate goal,” she added.
During her one-year stint with Ferencvarosi, more popularly known as Ftc-telecom, the Canadian-born Jamaican striker was a most instrumental figure, scoring 11 goals that aided the team’s title successes.
And it is almost as if Cameron hasn’t missed a beat, as she wasted little time to find her footing at her new club.
Cameron scored one goal and assisted another in Gyor’s solid 3-0 win over Astra Hungary recently, following their season opening 0-2 loss to Haladas Viktoria Szombathely, the new club of Reggae Girlz teammate Marlo Sweatman.
“It was cool to play against Marlo and see her in her new club environment and she looks happy. I think both of us had good performances, it was our first game of the season and it will only get better from there.
“I think that it is really important when a player feels good about their environment, they are able to play well and it doesn’t take long to integrate into a system,” Cameron told the Jamaica Observer.
“So it has been good for me so far, it is just about us building chemistry tactically and technically, and we need to be a bit more clinical in front of goal under pressure. But this will come with time.
“We have a lot of young players, so like I said it is about building up the confidence and just getting the cohesiveness going so we can be sharp for the rest of the season,” she reasoned.
At 29 years old in a career spanning eight years plus, Cameron is backing her experience and wealth of knowledge of the game to not only add value to her new team, but to improve her goal scoring prowess and rewrite the history books with another stellar run in Hungary.
“I just want to stay fit and continue to develop my technique, I think I have come a long way from the Tiffany of 2013, my technical ability has gotten so much better and I think it can only get better. I am 29 years old and they say this is time when players will sky-rocket if they want to.
“I am a very competitive player and I want to keep going, reaching higher and I am really excited for the next two years. I think I am going to score a lot of goals and I’ll do better than I did my first year in Hungary,” Cameron declared.
With an improved style of play, Cameron believes she will also see her being significantly more impactful in the Reggae Girlz road to Australia/New Zealand campaign, than she was in the lead up to France 2019.
“The main focus is just to stay fit, continue to develop and be ready for the World Cup qualifiers. I purposely wanted to sign a two year deal because I know the World Cup is in two years, so I needed to be in a stable environment where I am valued and respected,” Cameron shared.
“I think consistency is key in being one of those 90-minute players and making sure my fitness is top notch for whenever I am called up for my country. That’s the most important thing right now, maintaining fitness, continue to develop and fine tune my game,” she noted.
On that note, the talented Cameron, who also boasts musical interest, pointed out that the onus is now on the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to ensure that her Reggae Girlz team have a stable platform ahead of World Cup qualifying.
“I am actually really excited for qualifiers, I think we are going to be a great team and I think if we can get together every Fifa window we can be so much better than in the past and of course we are counting on the JFF to make it happen for us.
“We the players have a responsibility to stay fit and ready for when we are called upon to serve our country and we will do our part. So I’m hoping that the JFF will do their part as well too,” Cameron argued.