Australian football is 1-0 down with ten to play. It's time for Tim Cahill

Dear Tim,

Firstly, before I get to my own message, I think it’s safe to say a majority of the Australian football public were disappointed to see your contract terminated at Shanghai Shenhua.

Speaking from my own opinion, I was looking forward to seeing you in the same league with stars like Jackson Martinez, Ramires, Alex Teixera and Ezequiel Lavezzi. On top of it, playing week in, week out against other Socceroos like James Troisi, Tommy Oar and Trent Sainsbury shows exactly why China is quickly becoming the place to be for talented Asian footballers.

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It sucks that was taken away from you, especially after earning yourself a new contract as recently as November.

Now that you’re a free agent, my assumption is that you’re looking outside the boundaries of China for your next move. With 11 goals in 27 games for Shenhua, I think most clubs in Asia will be alerted; probably many elsewhere too.

For a player of your calibre and profile, there are many great options; Japan and Korea have a great track record for Australian moves, the Middle East would be a completely different experience in your career and a move back to another club in the United States would be a brilliant decision.

But Australia is ready to bring you home; and there’s no better time than now.

At the moment, it feels like Australian football is 1-0 down, with 10 minutes to go in Kaiserslauten. We’ve made huge strides leading up to this moment; two healthy expansion teams in Melbourne City and Western Sydney Wanderers, the hallmark signing of Alessandro del Piero, the development of now-star players like Sainsbury, Mile Jedinak and Robbie Kruse and the influx of talents like Diego Castro, Besart Berisha and Bruno Fornaroli. The best of it all, football is beginning to enter into the psyche of mainstream Australia.

But the league is at a crossroads; we’ve crunched through fan issues, crowd numbers are down, while our competitors in Big Bash Cricket and NBL Basketball ramp up the heat with vast improvements of their sports and product. We also have FFA CEO David Gallop beginning negotiations with channels Seven, Nine and Ten for the next TV broadcasting rights deal for the A-League.

I understand you’re hesitant about returning to Australia; perhaps it’s the standard of football, maybe it’s the fear of diminishing your iron-clad reputation by picking a city over others or it’s simply lacks the prestige of overseas leagues. But for your legacy, coming home is the best thing you can do.

Ask anyone to name their top Tim Cahill moment and it could be any one of your double again Japan in 2006, the incredible FA Cup run with Millwall, bicycle kick against Chelsea, your impeccable volley against Netherlands or your spectacular double against China. Bar the China game, all of these moments happened overseas, and unless you were in Brisbane in January 2016, most Australians can’t say they’ve been in the stadium to see Tim Cahill score (myself included).

I’d love to see one of our national sporting heroes on the park week-in, week-out, inspiring the next talented generation of Australians in our own backyard. I’d love to see the golden boy of Australian football inspire the next wave of fans to join the football movement in Australia. I’d love to see you, Tim Cahill, thrust Australian football into the mainstream as your ultimate everlasting legacy to the game. It’s nothing less than you deserve.

Even if you picked up the golden boot in China this season ahead of all the new international talent, nothing would be as big an achievement as leaving your mark on Australian football forever.

So Tim, you’ve done so much for our code in this country. We might be selfish to be asking for more.

Come off the bench again and write yourself into Australian football folklore one more time.

From a big Perth Glory fan and die-hard Socceroo, Harley.