As the Socceroos demolished Bangladesh in a clinical first-half display, there was one player who stood out. Not just for his performance, but for his attitude, hunger and determination.
It was not Aaron Mooy, who was man of the match despite only playing 45 minutes, but the teammate he provided two assists for.
Not only did Tim Cahill score a hat-trick in the 4-0 victory, but more importantly he was the motivator and leader in a game which posed as a potential banana peel.
It could be argued that those traits were not necessary against a lacklustre and poor Bangladeshi team, who showed little resistance against an injury-riddled Socceroos squad.
Yet the opposition’s poor quality made Cahill’s desire even more impressive.
Perhaps he held selfish thoughts – seeing a chance to burgeon his goal tally – but it provided the rest of the team with the drive needed to ward off complacency.
The opener was a gift after Mooy delivered a dangerous but relatively harmless free kick into the box. The Bangladeshi defence was woefully inept, allowing Cahill to head past Sahidul Alam without even jumping off the ground.
It was his celebration that was most noteworthy, however.
Against a minnow, against a team many fans had written off, Cahill celebrated his 43rd international goal like it was at a World Cup. While captain Mile Jedinak calmly picked up the ball and trotted back to the halfway line, Cahill was visibly pumping up his teammates – and the pep talk worked.
From there the Socceroos were ruthless, laying on another three goals before half-time.
Cahill’s second came through sheer determination at a time when the Socceroos were struggling to find a killer second. Following neat linkup play between Mooy and debutant Josh Risdon, Cahill scrapped with three defenders and the keeper for what felt like an eternity, eventually prodding the ball home with an acrobatic, improvised mid-air effort.
It was not the prettiest goal, but the fight to get it over the line summed up Cahill’s style perfectly.
The hat-trick goal came from the Socceroos’ best play of the 90 minutes, Matt McKay releasing Mooy with a neat first-time flick and the Melbourne Heart midfielder picking out Cahill for a tap-in.
Mooy was again involved to deliver the free kick for Jedinak to head home Bailey Wright’s knock down and complete the scoring.
The second half was a dull affair, and a disappointing effort from the Socceroos considering goal difference could play a huge role in Group B.
Substitutes Tommy Oar and James Troisi failed to impress in replacing the creative forces of Mooy and Massimo Luongo, and Nathan Burns remained the only real danger going forward. Even Cahill could not ward off complacency with his side 4-0 up.
Good news filtered through in the early hours of Wednesday morning, however, with Kyrgyzstan producing a 1-0 victory over Jordan to keep the Socceroos top of Group B with a two-point buffer.
Don’t call it an upset either, as Kyrgyzstan welcomed back returning stars Anton Zemlyanukhin, Mirlan Murzaev and Vitalij Lux, three players who had been missing last week in Canberra but had caused Australia major problems in Bishkek.
Zemlyanukhin proved the difference, producing a piece of outrageous individual talent to turn one Jordanian defender, stream past another and fire low past goalkeeper Amer Shafi.
It was a huge result for both Kyrgyzstan and Australia, who now require potentially just four points from their final two qualifying matches. With a goal difference of 14-plus beating Jordan’s 10-plus, a draw with their top-spot rivals in March next year should be sufficient, as long as they defeat Tajikistan four days earlier.
Cahill, however, will be alongside Ange Postecoglou demanding six points to stamp Australia’s dominance ahead of the second round of World Cup qualifying.
Having personally questioned the veteran’s chances of making the 2018 World Cup, the prospect is becoming a little hard to ignore. At 35 it would appear he has no hope, but while he is still banging in goals and running around like a 25-year-old, Cahill is doing himself no harm.
He has repeatedly expressed how he left the English Premier League to play in the MLS and Chinese Super League in a bid to extend his international career, and it is proving fruitful.
There have been suggestions on The Roar that Cahill is the best Australian sportsperson after Don Bradman, and although it is easy to get lost in praise a sobering assessment must be made.
It is an impossible claim to make, given he may not even be Australia’s best footballer.
Harry Kewell, Ned Zelic, Mark Schwarzer and Mark Viduka are just a few names that must be considered from a critic with a post-1988 birth date.
Cahill falls behind Kewell in natural technical abilities, and possesses nowhere near the close ball control and physicality of Dukes. Both footballers also played huge roles in growing the popularity of football Down Under.
Yet it is hard to argue that there has been a more passionate, determined and hungry beast to appear in the green and gold than Cahill. His insatiable thirst for goals is impressive and looks nowhere near like drying up.
Cahill also has a canny knack of putting the ball in the net, something no other Socceroo has managed to achieve with such regularity. And we all love a good goalscorer.
Many others have tried, some with more natural talent than Cahill, yet many have failed.
The way Viduka graced the football pitch was a joy to watch. He was not the type to rush defenders and harry them tirelessly, but when he received possession it stuck like Clag. One of the last true centre forwards, watching Viduka in action was always a pleasure.
Yet Viduka scored just 11 goals in 43 games for the Socceroos, despite boasting a far superior rate in club football. And most past Socceroos that do boast impressive tallies had the advantage of competing in Oceania. Most of Cahill’s arrived after the AFC move.
Archie Thompson, third all-time goalscorer with 28, scored 13 against American Samoa. John Aloisi, placed fourth, scored five against the Solomon Islands, as did Damian Mori, who is Cahill’s closest competitor with 29 international goals.
The hat-trick against Jordan was only Cahill’s second three-goal haul. It makes Cahill’s current record of 45 from 88 easily unrivalled, and there should be little doubt he will reach the half-century and perhaps beyond.
Best Socceroo? Debatable. Most hungry and potent goalscorer? Without a doubt.
For all the Socceroos’ dominance over Bangladesh, and yet another dazzling performance from new fans’ favourite Mooy, it was Cahill’s desire and drive that stood out.
Let it continue in March next year against Tajikistan and Jordan. Let it continue until the World Cup in three years time, as long as he keeps scoring.
Paul
Guest
thanks. The LB position is still a work in progress. Behich better for the tougher games, Davidson better as an attacking player all the better for First Team starts at Huddersfield. Meredith did not dominate effectively, still a work in progress like Risdon.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Agree with your analysis.
Paul
Guest
I have to say that this game was NOT a quality game. Some good passes here and there, but overall a poor performance despite the pitch and the score line . Th formation of 4-4-2 was not optimal but forced upon us because of illness and injury for both games with Leckie out due to illness, Kruse out due to long term injury. With Rogic and Juric out for this game, we were not helped especially by the pathetic pitch in Canberra (who had months to have a good pitch, there goes Canberra's chance for an A-League license!). Luongo couldn't shine with the poor passing. not sold on risdon at RB, we need a fit Franjic or Chris Herd. McGowan was good but need to see him against quality opposition. we are good with CB with Spiranovic, Sainsbury, Wright and Wilkinson. midfield looks good. we still need a striker and wingers who can takeon defenders and score other than Cahill. hopefully Juric is getting the training at Roda. Hopefully Leckie is getting better with Bundasliga experience. Perhaps MacLaren and Borello should get a start in a friendly or against Tajiikistan.
Johnno
Guest
the top 5 teams in Asia should avoid this round of AFC qualifiers. Silly for soccer's/Japan/Uzbeks/Iran/South Korea etc, to play teams like Bangladesh. It does nothing for either party, just shameless revenue raising. Canberra pulled a good crowd to watch a thrashing vs a team like Kyrgyztan, so some soccer fans in OZ enjoy watching the minnows play it seems, not me. The socceroos should enter the stage where the worst team is like a Singapore or Vietnam, or even as high a quality as Hong Kong/China would be suitable. Teams like Thailand are good hit out and credible for soccer's but, playing teams like Bangladesh and Kyrgyztan are not. Asian cup is expanding to 24 teams, let the Asian minnows develop there. But to make the world cup qualifying campaign shorter and more efficient let the big 5 or so teams in Asia avoid this stage of the qualifiers.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
I only saw the 2nd half live, and what an unconvincing display it was. The Socceroos rarely looked like scoring, in spite of a mountain of possession. In spite of the scoreline, there is no room for complacency. The Socceroos are capable of scoring 10 against Bangladesh, and every striker or feeder or half should have got a goal. Yet they didn't. I wonder what would have happened if Cahill's 2nd goal had been disallowed -- it certainly looked like a handball to me and to the Bangladesh team. I was pleased to see a Socceroo win, in a difficult environment on a poor pitch -- but was far from convinced by the half I watched in full.
Simoc
Guest
The game is about scoring goals and Cahill has mastered that. It is so difficult for everyone yet his name pops up so often, it is no accident. He continually amazes me. Once upon a time I thought he was an ordinary player apart from his goal scoring. But there are so few scorers in soccer and his name pops up so often. It is all about being there at the right moment and he is a great.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Point taken, guess I just appreciated the fact that his movement off the ball did help free Cahill. Then again could have just been the dodgy Bangladeshi defense.
Waz
Guest
You need to get a video of San Marino playing, I suspect Bangladesh would beat them ;)
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Incidentally, Hong Kong may have just tipped China out of World Cup qualification. Hong Kong managed a credible draw against China, mirroring the scoreline from their trip to the Middle Kingdom earlier in the year. Whilst China is still a chance to take 2nd place from Hong Kong on goal difference, the 2 draws with Hong Kong and a loss in Qatar may place them into the bottom half of the 2nd place getters even if they win the next two games.
jamesb
Guest
Cahills hat trick has put him at 45 goals from 88 games and is now ranked 41st In terms of international goals scored. The players that Cahill has equalled with at 45 goals are Davor Suker and Edin Dzeko. Cahill is currently one goal ahead of Luiz Suarez. Sure, Cahills opposition at times may not be great, but he is not a traditional striker either.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
If we defeat Tajikistan then Jordan will need to defeat us at home in order to top the group. The final match day in March is unlikely to be a dead rubber and hence I agree that a decent crowd should be in the offing. In regards to goal difference, it is more a matter for being in the top 50% of the 2nd place getters to proceed to the next round. Indonesia was banned by FIFA from playing (Group F has only 4 sides) meaning that when determining goal difference between groups, the goals against the 5th placed side do not count. As such the goals against Bangladesh do not count to our (or Jordan's) comparative tally when determining the best 2nd place getters. If Jordan and Australia found themselves on the same points then it is our head to hear record that is first assessed. Since that scenario would require Jordan to have the wood on us (us to draw with both Tajikistan & Jordan and Jordan to win v Bangladesh and draw with us) then they would top the group regardless of goal difference.
jbinnie
Guest
Kaks -I follow the logic of your comments well but last night was a bad night to enter into discussion as to who played well and who didn't. I would hazard a guess and say the opposition was the worst football team I have ever witnessed playing at World Cup level. Right from the kick off they made their intentions clear,get 10 men behind the ball at all times and keep the "invaders" at bay. Unfortunately to do that in an organised fashion requires not only talent,but a comprehensive plan,unadulterated faith in each other, and more than a little "know-how".This 11 showed none of these characteristics and after the 4th goal was scored we could have ,with hindsight,all gone to bed I did watch to the end but found my mind wandering into asking myself how many goals would Victory or Sydney FC have ,or could have, scored against this lot. So forget the pitch,the smog, the heat or humidity,we got the 4 goals that mattered and that's about all anyone could take out of this horrendous mis-match. Cheers jb
Kaks
Roar Guru
"But the group winner will probably be decided on the final match day in late March" - That is the likely scenario, but if we go into that game remaining top of the group then I will be happier knowing a draw will be enough to clinch it.
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Yep, he has the same commitment to make an impact for his country whether it's against Holland or Bangladesh. A lot of players are just happy to go through the motions and get back on the plane in a match like this, not Tim.
jbinnie
Guest
Janek- The endless debate caused by a simple statement,who is the best ever (in what position)?????.One looks at 3 you mention,Viduka, Mori,and Cahill, all prolific goalscorers in their day but as different as chalk and cheese, Viduks,- tall,strong ,gifted with great basic ball skills and not only a goal threat in the box but a physical presence as well. Morii .- small,quick,wiry,a proven goal getter wherever he played but in the air,due to his height,not such a threat. Cahill - A centre forward?,not really, a free spirit loving nothing more than going where instinct takes him and scoring? No doubt. Can these 3 players really be compared by comparing their "goal tallies"? I think not. Could they have played successfully as a front 3? Now that is another story and does make the mind start to work or,even better,whets the appetite for what might have been . Cheers jb
Fadida
Guest
Kewell and Viduka are the most talented Australian footballers I have seen. Cahill in the other hand is the most driven, determined, professional and probably the most committed in playing for his country. You have to applaud the man. He takes such great care of himself physically that I am just starting to think that he might make it to Russia, should we qualify.
AZ_RBB
Guest
"Firstly, Kyrgyzstan beat Jordan 1-0 which gives us a massive boost" That was great to see. But the group winner will probably be decided on the final match day in late March. Hopefully the magnitude of the occasion means we get a solid crowd to that game. Regardless of where we finish, next round will be tough. With only 2 groups in the next round, you're guaranteed to be grouped in with some formidable teams. Would actually prefer to be in a group with a few extra West Asian teams. Make it easier for our Euro based players.
Fadida
Guest
Burns was fantastic. Assuming his brief was to dribble head down and lose possession as many times as he could :)
Kaks
Roar Guru
I disagree, I think he did a great job at what he was asked to do. Firstly, he is a Winger, not a striker, that was told to play alongside Cahill. Secondly, it was clear that his instructions were to run in behind the defence into areas of space on the wings to open up space in the middle. He did that very well when you consider how many chances Cahill had in the middle of the box. When you also consider that we did not have any Wingers, and our formation was heavy in the centre of midfield, he did a fantastic job. It's not all about who scores and creates assists, its about fulfilling the instructions of the coach and doing well for the team. For that reason I believe Burns did a fantastic job.
marcel
Guest
Totally agree Jack...unless we start playing against the Matildas Burns will never encounter a weaker defence and yet he was still completely ineffective.