Tim Cahill

Timothy Filiga Cahill (born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional association football player who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions.

A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his aggressive and powerful approach and his ability to head the ball in the penalty area".

Cahill was born on 6 December 1979 in Sydney, Australia.

He is the third child out of four children, with an older brother, Sean, an older sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, Chris.

His father, Tim Cahill Sr, is of English and Irish descent and worked as a merchant seaman before settling in Australia, where he worked as a rigger and trawler.

Cahill's mother, Sisifo, primarily has Samoan ancestry and was born in the small village of Tufuiopa, Apia, where his grandfather and great-grandfather held chief positions.

His mother took on two jobs as a hotel employee and a factory worker to support the family financially after his father suffered a hip injury and was unable to work.

Their financial position meant that Cahill and his family had to move frequently due to rent increases.

Growing up in a soccer-loving family, Cahill developed a passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his brothers, Sean and Chris, and watching Premier League matches on TV with his father, who is a West Ham fan from his upbringing in London.

However, during the holidays, Cahill frequently visited family in Australia and Samoa where he played rugby with his cousins, including Frank Winterstein and Ben Roberts, both of whom became professional rugby players.

His father took him and his brothers, Sean and Chris, to soccer training in a local park every week, where Cahill developed a discipline and a perfectionist personality over time.

Though his biggest influence came from his maternal grandmother, Asofa, who taught him the Samoan culture and beliefs of discipline, hard work, and perseverance – something Cahill would carry throughout his life.

At the age of seven, Cahill started participating in private coaching under John Doyle, a retired Irish-Australian footballer, who he considered played a pivotal role in transforming his game.

As a junior player since the age of four, Cahill had played for Balmain Police Tigers, Marrickville Red Devil, and Lakemba SC.

He had always played in an older age group due to his older brother who was a year older; playing together meant his parents would spend less on petrol.

He also played futsal with his friends, creating a team named Banshee Knights, who his father named, after drawing inspiration from the Celtic legend's banshee screams.

In his school years, Cahill enrolled in Bexley North Public School, Annandale North Public School, Tempe High School, and Kingsgrove North High School.

During these years, he has represented the public school select team, Metropolitan East before representing the NSW PSSA team, which went on to win the school tournament.

Measuring up to 1.65m in high school, teachers doubted Cahill's dream, saying he could not become a professional soccer player due to his small stature which he later said was the best thing he was ever told, saying, "To the people who said I couldn't do it, I say thank you."

Cahill joined NSL club Sydney Olympic, a club heavily influenced by their Greek ancestry, in Belmore.

He began in their youth ranks and also became a ball boy for the first-team games, which fuelled his aspiration to play for the club's senior team.

After spending five years at Sydney Olympic, where he embraced the Greek culture and even learned some Greek, Cahill was released by the club in the same year after failing to pass the annual trial, as a coach believed he was too small and slow.

Disheartened by the setback, he joined the NSW Institute of Sport in Lidcombe to improve his speed and physicality.

The same year, he joined Belmore Hercules, a club that played three divisions down from Sydney Olympic.

Cahill impressed in the under-18 team, resulting in him being promoted to the first team.

Cahill became the youngest player at the age of 15 to ever play for the club, making his senior debut as a substitute and scoring his first goal with a header.

By the end of the season, he emerged as the club's top goalscorer across the under-18, under-21, and senior squads, netting a total of 30 goals.

In 1997, Cahill left Sydney for England to play professionally; there he was signed by Millwall on a free transfer from Sydney United.

He was part of the Millwall side that won the Football League Second Division title in the 2000–01 season, and was also a central part of Millwall's run to the 2004 FA Cup Final.

Cahill has scored 50 goals in 108 caps between 2004 and 2018 and is regarded as one of the greatest Australian soccer players of all time.

He currently works as a pundit for BBC Sport and Sky Sports.

Before the start of the 2004–05 season, Cahill was transferred to Everton.

He was named both Everton Player of the Season and Everton Players' Player of the Season in his debut season, and in the following year he was named as one of 50 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first Everton player in 11 years to be nominated.

Cahill was the first Australian to score at a FIFA World Cup, scored in three World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014) and has scored the most goals by any Australian in the men's World Cup with five goals.

In 2007, he became the first Australian player to score at an AFC Asian Cup.

Cahill is known for his adept heading ability and high vertical leap, having scored many of his goals with his head.

He is famous for his regular goal celebration of shadow boxing around the corner flag.

He was also part of the Everton side that reached the final of the 2008–09 FA Cup.

Since leaving Everton in 2012, Cahill has played for the New York Red Bulls, Shanghai Shenhua, Hangzhou Greentown and Melbourne City.

After a brief spell at former club Millwall, he ended his career at Jamshedpur.