The value of foreign-developed players: What Football Australia can learn from Morocco for Socceroos success
Morocco is not the only nation to find success with a large contingent of foreign-developed players - and the Socceroos can join that list.
After taking seven games to score his first goal in the Chinese Super League, Socceroos hero Tim Cahill has now scored six times for Shanghai Shenhua including five goals in his last six appearances.
His latest goal came against the top team in the competition, Beijing Guoan. Coming into the match Beijing had only lost once in 18-matches but Shanghai Shenhua produced a solid performance at home to win 3-1 and move into sixth on the ladder.
Cahill’s goal was the second of the night and came in the 58th minute when he pounced on a header from his teammate Avraam Papadopoulos.
Cahill’s importance to the team is shown by the fact he’s played almost every minute of the CSL season and out of his six goals, four have been the first goal for Shenhua in the match, including his second last appearance against Tianjin Teda where he scored a header.
He also suffered a nasty boot to the groin in that match from Brazilian player Lucas Fonseca, who escaped a yellow card as the referee saw it as accidental.
With 12 matches to play in the 2015 season, Cahill’s Shenhua will need to keep winning if they’re any chance of catching fellow Shanghai side SIPG which is three games clear in third sport for the all important final AFC Champions League qualifying position.
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Morocco is not the only nation to find success with a large contingent of foreign-developed players - and the Socceroos can join that list.
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