A-League: Tim Cahill wonder strike not bad for openers with City

David Gallop’s next meeting with TV executives should feature a video of Tim Cahill’s wonder goal in the Derby.

Tim Cahill celebrates his superb goal for Melbourne City in his A-League debut on Saturday.

When Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop next walks into a meeting with television executives to discuss the new broadcast deal he will do so with a spring in the step and armed with one thing: a video of Tim ­Cahill’s extraordinary Melbourne derby goal.

Record crowds and exceptional television ratings will also be an important weapon in what has been a stunning first two rounds of the A-League season.

But, above all, it will be the wow factor that Cahill brings that will rightly be the centre point as Gallop attempts to secure a financial windfall that will hopefully double the four-year, $160 million deal that expires after the present season. FFA has invested heavily in bringing the Socceroo great back to Australia to spearhead the A-League broadcast push — $500,000 of its own money to go along with the reportedly $4 million per season he will receive from his club, Melbourne City.

Cahill’s off-field impact has been evident from the moment he stepped back into Australia as an A-League professional. He has been a media magnet, his face plastered on the back pages and on television.

Never mind that there was ­derision over FFA helping out a club like Melbourne City — the richest sporting club in Australia, let alone the A-League, via their owner, the world renowned City Football Group.

The proof though would be in what one of Australian soccer’s greatest players would bring on the field. And the sceptics need not have worried, for the 36-year-old took just 27 minutes to announce himself with a wondrous opening goal that set the derby alight and thrilled many in the crowd of 43,188 at Etihad Stadium as City went on to beat Melbourne Victory 4-1.

The final score almost doesn’t matter because everyone is still talking about a sublime moment that will live forever in A-League history. With the scores locked at 0-0, Cahill, playing his first game in the A-League, pounced on a bouncing ball 35 metres from goal. Instinctively, he saw an opportunity, putting his right boot through the half volley to send the ball on a magic carpet ride before it settled in the top right-hand corner of the net.

The trademark Cahill flurry of fists aimed at the corner flag followed and with it a social media explosion. Even his harshest critics marvelled at the moment.

While admitting the goal was “right up there” with his best, Cahill typically tried to deflect the attention. “For my team, I am proud of them ­because they shocked themselves,” he said. “This is a derby and if you are not going to run hard every minute then don’t bother turning up. Every one of them turned up.

“The goal was the type of goal that (teammate) Bruno (Forna­roli) usually scores. (But) he scored a goal with his head and that is something I normally do.”

City coach John van’t Schip was in awe, not just of Cahill but of his whole team. “It’s something world class players do,” van’t Schip said. “Tim saw the moment. He had an eye for it and, of course, you have to have the quality to hit the ball the right way and you need a bit of luck. So everything came in a great moment together and you could sense it in the reaction of the crowd.

“For the team, it was one of the best performances we’ve played at Etihad. We were the better team over the whole game and we worked hard for that. We are ­improving and getting better and better with every game.”

Defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for Victory, especially coming off the back of the opening round 1-1 draw with Brisbane Roar when the Victorians conceded in the final minute of the game.

“The biggest disappointment for me, apart from the embarrassment of treating our fans with such a poor performance, is that we didn’t really recover after that opening goal,” Victory coach Kevin Muscat said.

“It was a brilliant goal to be fair.

“But if anything we want into our shell after that. The ­playing group is devastated ­because we let the members and the fans down.”