Socceroos v UAE: Tim Cahill has followed some of football’s greats with his move to a No.9 role

HE was a midfielder up until 2013, yet Tim Cahill has followed some of the game’s greats to reinvent himself as one of a deadly striker.

Cahill follows greats in No.9 reinvention

HE was a midfielder up until 2013, yet Tim Cahill has followed in the footsteps of some of the game’s greats to reinvent himself as one of the world’s deadliest strikers.

Real Madrid duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, former New York Red Bulls teammate Thierry Henry and retired Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs are the greatest switching success stories.

But having scored 11 goals in 15 games since Ange Postecoglou’s taken over the Socceroos, including five World Cup and Asian Cup strikes, Cahill’s transformation is similarly spectacular, if not more sudden.

“I’ve never known anyone who’s as desperate and hungry to score goals like Timmy Cahill,’’ former Socceroos teammate and current ambassador Craig Moore said.

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“That’s what his games all about. His ability to stand up when it counts is unbelievable.

“I’ve had a couple of good conversations with Timmy and he tells me what’s going to happen before it happens, such is his confidence.

“When the team needs a spark, needs a goal, he only needs that chance.

”He’s not scoring against Solomon Islands and these sorts of teams, he’s scoring against top quality opposition.’’

Cahill, 35, only overtook Damian Mori as Australia’s record goalscorer last March, but has shot 10 clear since, with a career tally of 39 in 80 games and counting.

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Even more extraordinary is that he started Postecoglou’s debut on the bench, in November 2013 against Costa Rica, when he came on and scored the winner.

“The boss has always tested me, I don’t know whether I’ll play sometimes, I don’t know whether it’ll be my last goal,’’ Cahill said.

“Every goal I’ve scored, you see the way I celebrate, it’s like my last ever goal.’’

Socceroos legends Mark Viduka and John Aloisi filled the striking roles when Cahill made his Socceroos debut in 2004, before Harry Kewell and Josh Kennedy shared target man duties until 2013.

He made his name as a scoring attacking midfielder or second striker with Millwall, Everton and the Socceroos.

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Former boss Holger Osieck occasionally deployed him as a striker late in his tenure and he found it challenging.

”It’s something that he found hard at the beginning. At times he was frustrated, he had long periods where he wasn’t getting the touches he would normally get,’’ Moore recalled.

”It is a really disciplined role and now he’s made that transition seamlessly, because he’s a good professional and takes on information very well.

”He understands the role of the 9, in terms of keeping the centre-halves occupied, keeping a lot of depth to the pitch.

”He’s not the type who’s going to get on the ball and then spin and make runs in behind. That’s not where you get the best out of Timmy.

”His best attribute is putting fear into defenders, they want to drop deeper and that’s beautiful for Timmy.

”When the ball gets to the right areas, he comes to life.

“He reminds me of Ally McCoist at Rangers, they write their own scripts and have this belief they will score goals every time they were put there and in the big moments they would come up trumps.’’

Tim Cahill.

TIM CAHILL’S STRIKING RECORD

Pre-Postecoglou:

65 caps, 28 goals

Since Postecoglou took over (Nov 2013):

15 games, 11 goals

10 PLAYERS WHO REINVENTED THEMSELVES

Player Club/Country Original position New role

1 Tim Cahill New York RB/Australia Attacking mid Striker

2 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid/Portugal Winger Striker

3 Ryan Giggs Manchester United/Wales Winger Midfielder

4 Gareth Bale Real Madrid/Wales Left-back Forward

5 Javier Mascherano Barcelona/Argentina Midfielder Defender

6 Thierry Henry Arsenal/France Winger Striker

7 Bastian Schweinsteiger Bayern Munich/Germany Striker Attacking mid

8 Franz Beckebauer Germany Attacking mid Libero/Defender

9 Dion Dublin Coventry Defender Striker

10 Jorge Campos Mexico Striker Keeper

Originally published as Socceroos v UAE: Tim Cahill has followed some of football’s greats with his move to a No.9 role