It can be felt in the air whenever a World Cup is approaching.
When World Cup sticker books and wall charts fill the newsagents, memories of past tournaments are thrust to the front of football fans’ minds.
For Socceroos supporters, few memories play back sweeter than Tim Cahill’s classic strike from 2014.
The 42-year-old has long been Australia’s main man when a World Cup is on the horizon. In 2022, his role will be vastly different.
This is Australia’s first World Cup without Cahill during their run of consecutive qualifications since 2006.
MORE: Socceroos squad for World Cup 2022
What does Tim Cahill do now?
In April 2021, it was announced that Cahill had been appointed Chief Sports Officer at Aspire Academy in Qatar’s capital city of Doha.
Aspire Academy is an athletic development program designed to aid in the growth of Qatar’s young sports stars whilst providing them with secondary education.
The left-field appointment made more sense when, in a release from Aspire, Cahill revealed his substantial relationship with the academy.
“I’ve been visiting Aspire since my playing days with Everton and the Socceroos and have been constantly impressed by its world-class innovation and competitiveness,” Cahill said when he joined Aspire.
Aspire Academy’s lofty claims of being “the world’s leading academy for youth sports development” may hold some weight in the football sphere.
In 2014, Qatar’s U-19 National Football Team won the AFC U-19 Championship with an entire squad of Aspire Academy students/graduates. Five years later, Qatar won their first AFC Asian Cup.
Qatar’s FIFA Men’s world ranking also suggests a significantly positive impact from Aspire Academy. Since hitting their lowest-ever world ranking of 113th in 2010, Qatar have risen to currently sit 50th.
Whilst his work with Aspire already has him living in Qatar full-time, Cahill’s connections to the host nation don’t end there.
Why is Tim Cahill in Qatar?
In February 2020, Cahill was announced as one of four Global Qatar Legacy Ambassadors alongside Cafu, Samuel Eto’o and Xavi Hernandez.
According to the World Cup 2022 website, the list of significant footballing status has been employed to “help use the opportunities provided by Qatar 2022 to create positive social change across the region and around the world.”
Unsurprisingly and not unlike the 2022 World Cup as a whole, Cahill’s association with the host nation has come under extensive scrutiny.
Aside from the heat and the scheduling that throws European domestic football out of whack, the vast opposition to the 2022 World Cup comes in response to the human rights situation in the country.
Male homosexuality, for example, is illegal in Qatar. So too is homosexual marriage, joint-adoption by a homosexual couple and access to IVF for lesbians. Homosexual Muslims may even be subject to the death penalty – but a punishment like this has yet to be publicly recorded.
This, alongside the treatment of workers involved with the World Cup in Qatar, led to the Australian men’s football team releasing a video addressing the issues ahead of the World Cup.
MORE: Socceroos call for Qatar to legalise same-sex relationships, improve migrant worker rights
Tim Cahill’s role with the Socceroos in Qatar
While Cahill’s main job sees him currently based in Qatar, the former forward is working with the Socceroos during their World Cup campaign.
Cahill not only helped with the team securing the Aspire Academy as a training base but was subsequently appointed as the team’s Head of Delegation.
“The Aspire Academy is recognised as one of the world’s leading sports academies and I am thrilled that we have been able to secure these facilities for our national team during this tournament,” Cahill said.
“I am honoured to be asked to fulfill the role of Head of Delegation at this tournament. I hope to share my knowledge and experiences from four previous FIFA World Cups with our team and staff to give us the best opportunity of progressing through the group stage for the first time since 2006.”
Tim Cahill World Cup statistics
Cahill is undoubtedly an Australian football legend.
His 50 goals for the national team make him Australia’s greatest ever goalscorer. He is also the second-most capped Socceroo of all-time behind goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
When it comes to World Cups, Cahill was a reliable source of goals for the men in gold.
In the 2006 tournament, Australia’s first appearance at a World Cup finals since 1974 (five years before Cahill was born), Cahill greeted the group stages with a brace and an assist in a 3-1 win over Japan.
In 2010, Cahill scored the opener in a 2-1 win over Serbia as Australia failed to leave the group stage. Four years later, his memorable strike against the Netherlands took his tournament tally to two and earned him a nomination for the 2014 Pusk?s award.
Cahill’s World Cup career ended with a whimper in 2018, when he managed just 37 minutes in the Socceroos’ 2-0 loss to Peru.
His five goals in nine appearances for Australia make him their top goalscorer and joint-highest appearance maker at World Cups.
Tim Cahill club statistics
After switching Sydney United for Millwall in 1997, Cahill racked up 212 appearances and 49 goals in all competitions.
Impressive performances earned him a spot in the First Division Team of the Year for 2003-04 and a $2.7 million move to Everton came in the summer.
Cahill hit the ground running at Goodison Park, finishing as the club’s top scorer and player of the season in his first year at the club.
The attacker left England as one of Australia’s greatest ever exports. Boasting 226 Premier League appearances with 56 goals, he holds the third-highest goal tally for an Australian in the Premier League.
Cahill rounded out his career with short stints in China, Australia and India, including a brief return to Millwall in 2018.
Tim Cahill’s legacy at Everton
Despite leaving Goodison Park in 2012, Cahill still finds himself involved with the Merseyside club.
Cahill played a role in the appointment of Frank Lampard as Everton manager in January of this year and has publicly admitted his interest in eventually taking on an executive role with the club.
In September 2021, Everton announced the full-time signature of Cahill’s son, Shae, to their under-18 squad.
Cahill’s over son, Kyah, also recently made his international debut for Samoa’s Under 19’s team.
