- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Melbourne City have declared Tim Cahill ready to make his first Australian club soccer appearance in two decades.
Both City coach John van ‘t Schip and the man himself believe Cahill is fit enough to make a debut at the unlikely venue of suburban Brisbane ground Perry Park on Wednesday night.
A 3,500-strong capacity crowd is likely for the FFA Cup round of 16 match between City and former National Soccer League club Brisbane Strikers.
Van ‘t Schip confirmed Cahill would be in the squad but suggested he would watch the start of the match from the bench, saying “it’s about how long and what’s the best in the interests of us and Tim”.
“He’s ready to play.
“He’s a fit guy, took very good care of his body during his career.
“He’s been out for a few weeks and didn’t do that much training, just had one week.
“But still you need a bit of a build up and that’s what we’re going to look at.”
Cahill told Melbourne radio station RSN 927 he had put his hand up to play.
“I will give myself every opportunity due to the fact I’ve completed all sessions, indoor and outdoor, and basically recovered really well,” he said.
“I’m feeling good. The main thing is I’m travelling up to Brisbane and we’ll play it by ear … you’re always preparing to play when you’re travelling.”
As of Tuesday morning, though, Cahill still needed a crucial piece of paperwork to be filed, but the club are putting him on the plane in the expectation it will be sorted.
“I think the FFA still has to tick it off … that will be no problem I heard,” van ‘t Schip said.
It’s understood FFA received Cahill’s finalised contract information from City for processing on Tuesday morning.
In addition to Cahill, Josh Rose and Neil Kilkenny could also make their City debuts, with only Ivan Franjic and Corey Gameiro unavailable.
Van ‘t Schip said he was close to completing his squad for the upcoming season.
“We still have a marquee spot available and there’s maybe another opportunity for a spot that we can fill in in the squad,” he said.
“We’re looking carefully around and hopefully we can get them in before the league starts. But we dont want to rush it.”
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.