Asian Cup 2015: Trent Sainsbury denies Socceroos are reliant on Tim Cahill

TIM Cahill’s younger teammates hailed his genius, but defender Trent Sainsbury said the Socceroos were far from a one-trick pony.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 22: Trent Sainsbury of Australia passes the ball during the 2015 Asian Cup match between China PR and the Australian Socceroos at Suncorp Stadium on January 22, 2015 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

TIM Cahill’s younger teammates hailed his genius, but defender Trent Sainsbury said the Socceroos were far from a one-trick pony.

Cahill’s 17-minutes of brilliance early in the second half broke open the deadlock then killed off a resilient China in Thursday night’s Asian Cup quarter-final.

Cahill had scored eight of the Socceroos’ 12 goals in the Ange Postecoglou era leading into the tournament.

While he’s only scored three of 10 at the Asian Cup, the China double and the equaliser against Kuwait in game one are arguably the most vital.

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Trent Sainsbury has paid tribute to Tim Cahill while saying the Socceroos aren’t reliant on him.

“It’s not Timmy Australia, it’s the team Australia,’’ Sainsbury said.

“We’ve got (Tomi) Juric as well on the bench, he’s a big boy, he can hold up the ball for us and score goals as well. We’re not worried if we lose one player.

“He just keeps surprising everyone. Everyone writes him off after he hasn’t scored for maybe one game, and he’ll come back and score an overhead like that. It’s just incredible.’’

Substitute Nathan Burns said Cahill knew his limitations but oozed confidence on any stage.

“He’s a freak. He can be quiet in games and then in that one moment he can produce and he does it time and time again,’’ Burns said.

“That’s why he’s worth the millions that he is because he comes up in big situations. Having him in your team, you know he’s going to bring that to your team. There’s never any doubt, is there.

“He’s just confident. He will tell you he’s not the most technically gifted player but he’ll tell you he’ll score today and he believes in himself, he backs himself.’’

Mark Bresciano is just two months his junior, and witnessed most of his magic first-hand, having made way for Cahill just before he scored Australia’s first World Cup goal in 2006 against Japan.

“He is a big inspiration not just for the young guys but for all of us, he just doesn’t stop,’’ Bresciano said.

“Regardless of what game it is, the importance of the game, he’s always capable of getting up and score the goals. Got to take your hat off to him.’’

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Trent Sainsbury denies Socceroos are reliant on Tim Cahill