Tim Cahill, now with the New York Red Bulls, has been a mainstay in the Australian side since his Everton days, writes Sandy Joy.
In 2006 and 2010, the Australian national football (soccer) team had departed for World Cups, only to return with optimism; albeit with and a sense of realism about their abilities, given their respective finishes. 2006 had teased an upheaval in the state of Australian football, as the side became the first ever Oceanic side to progress past the group stages, while 2010 showed consolidation as they narrowly missed out on progression thanks to inferior goal difference to that of Ghana’s. 2014 however, showed they can cut it with the big boys.
Despite suffering three straight defeats, Mark Schwarzer and co. far from embarrassed themselves and quite frankly, on another day, they could have found themselves with a win or two. Tim Cahill spearheaded the Socceroos’ ranks and gave more than 110%, as the Aussies contributed to several surprise match outcomes, which had bookies such as Bet365 amongst others, licking their lips as they swept up their winnings from people’s losing correct score and goal scorer bets. First came the might of Chile, a side that is on its very own ascendency into the upper echelons of international football. Despite falling to a 3-1 defeat, Australia showed what they were made of, with a performance that had you been watching, would have left you feeling like the side were hard done by, after two first half goals made life difficult for them.
The second game was the one that really showed substance however, as they came face to face with Holland. The Dutch, who had just trounced reigning champions’ Spain 5-1, were feeling confident and it is probably fair to suggest that barely anyone believed the Aussies could go one better than the Spanish. Somebody should have told that to Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak, who by 55 minutes had sent Australia into a surprise 2-1 lead. To make matters worse for the Netherlands, this was by no means a fluke score line, as the Aussies had matched Holland in all areas of the pitch for the most part. Now, Holland did go on to win the match 3-2, but that was after Australia set up shop, so to speak, and tried to defend what they had in the match. Had they stuck to their original, free-flowing game-plan, they might have won.
In fact, the only time the Aussies offered anything short of a stellar outing for their fans was in the game against Spain to conclude their World Cup campaign. With nothing to play for, you could hardly expect them to be as motivated as they were in the previous two fixtures, especially as Tim Cahill was suspended.
Cahill is, however, on the wrong side of 30 now and may not be around for the 2018 World Cup, should Australia get there. But he and Mark Schwarzer, the current captain who is no spring chicken himself, have laid the groundwork for Australian football to force their way into fan’s thinking when it comes to International football. They certainly have the leadership in place to do so, with Ange Posteglou at the helm. One thing is for sure though; it’s sure to be a rollercoaster ride for the Aussies as they begin to prepare their charge to Russia ’18.
