Cahill beats all odds to reach Cup final
Tim Cahill has come a long way to reach the FA Cup final.
The Millwall midfielder left friends and family in Australia and flew halfway around the world to join the club as a teenager seven years ago.
His father needed a loan to pay for the flight, but Cahill repaid that gamble by maturing into a top footballing talent, and it was his winning goal against Sunderland at Old Trafford which secured the Lions their first appearance in the final.
Yet less than two years ago his career could have been over. When Cahill suffered a serious knee-ligament injury in September 2002, there were fears he might never return.
Playing in an FA Cup final was the last thing on his mind during seven long months on the sidelines undergoing rehabilitation.
But Cahill had to watch team-mates Richard Sadlier and Joe Dolan’s careers ruined by injury and he vowed not to let it happen to him.
“It was a down period in my life,” he admitted later. “I will never forget how the physios and doctors helped me. I can’t thank them enough for all the hard work they put in.”
Since then he has never looked back. Cahill is the driving force behind Millwall’s most successful cup run in history. The 24-year-old has hit three goals in the competition.
Cahill’s form did not go unnoticed by his country either. Prevented from playing for Australia for nine years, he was finally able to make his debut as a substitute in a friendly against South Africa at Loftus Road five days before the semi-final.
FIFA had banned him from representing the Socceroos because of two substitute appearances he made for Western Samoa as a 14-year-old, but a recent rule change allowed him to fulfil a dream.
After his debut he said: “It’s always been in the back of my mind the feeling that I’d never get the chance to appear on the world stage or even get a chance to be in the squad.
“The best thing of it all was just being part of the squad, but actually to play and be a part of the team feels special.”
Having secured his first international cap and the match ball from Old Trafford, he now wants to complete a unique set of memorabilia in the final on May 22.
“Hopefully I can get Ruud van Nistelrooy’s shirt after the game,” he said.
“I will be playing against Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and van Nistelrooy. Oh my God, they’re my idols.”
But despite his obvious admiration, Cahill will not be star-struck at the Millennium Stadium, and is promising United a battle to lift the trophy.
He said: “It’s going to be a dogfight. We’re confident anything can happen.
“A lot of people have been knocking us down but hopefully we can get some respect from this.”
Cahill put his chances of playing in the final in jeopardy with a red card against Cardiff in a 0-0 draw at the New Den earlier this month. It was his second dismissal of the season and prompted a two-game ban.
But he has since managed to avoid earning a 15th yellow card of the season and an extended suspension which could have included the final. That will come as a huge relief to Millwall and to his family.
Cahill remembers bunking off school in Australia to watch past finals on television. He never thought back then he would one day be playing in one.
