1. Timothy Filiga Cahill is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder but played as a striker on many occasions.
77 Facts About Tim Cahill
1. 2.
In 1997, Tim Cahill left Sydney for England to play professionally; there he was signed by Millwall on a free transfer from Sydney United.
3.
Tim Cahill was named both Everton Player of the Season and Everton Players' Player of the Season in his debut season, and in the following year he was named as one of 50 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first Everton player in 11 years to be nominated.
4.
Since leaving Everton in 2012, Tim Cahill has played for the New York Red Bulls, Shanghai Shenhua, Hangzhou Greentown and Melbourne City.
5.
Tim Cahill was the first Australian to score at a FIFA World Cup, scored in three World Cups and has scored the most goals by any Australian in the men's World Cup with five goals.
6.
Tim Cahill is known for his adept heading ability and high vertical leap, having scored many of his goals with his head.
7.
Tim Cahill is famous for his regular goal celebration of shadow boxing around the corner flag.
8.
Tim Cahill was born on 6 December 1979 in Sydney, Australia.
9.
Tim Cahill is the third child out of four children, with an older brother, Sean, an older sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, Chris.
10.
Tim Cahill's mother, Sisifo, primarily has Samoan ancestry and was born in the small village of Tufuiopa, Apia, where his grandfather and great-grandfather held chief positions.
11.
Tim Cahill's mother took on two jobs as a hotel employee and a factory worker to support the family financially after his father suffered a hip injury and was unable to work.
12.
However, during the holidays, Tim Cahill frequently visited family in Australia and Samoa where he played rugby with his cousins, including Frank Winterstein and Ben Roberts, both of whom became professional rugby players.
13.
Tim Cahill's father took him and his brothers, Sean and Chris, to soccer training in a local park every week, where Cahill developed a discipline and a perfectionist personality over time.
14.
At the age of seven, Tim Cahill started participating in private coaching under John Doyle, a retired Irish-Australian footballer, who he considered played a pivotal role in transforming his game.
15.
Tim Cahill had always played in an older age group due to his older brother who was a year older; playing together meant his parents would spend less on petrol.
16.
Tim Cahill played futsal with his friends, creating a team named Banshee Knights, who his father named, after drawing inspiration from the Celtic legend's banshee screams.
17.
Tim Cahill joined NSL club Sydney Olympic, a club heavily influenced by their Greek ancestry, in Belmore.
18.
Tim Cahill began in their youth ranks and became a ball boy for the first-team games, which fuelled his aspiration to play for the club's senior team.
19.
Tim Cahill impressed in the under-18 team, resulting in him being promoted to the first team.
20.
Tim Cahill became the youngest player at the age of 15 to ever play for the club, making his senior debut as a substitute and scoring his first goal with a header.
21.
Tim Cahill then joined Sydney United, another club influenced by their Croatian heritage similar to Sydney Olympic's Greek origins.
22.
Tim Cahill became part of their under-21 team, where he received significant playing time under manager Phil Pavela.
23.
Tim Cahill arrived in England in late-1997, meeting his relatives, Glen and Lindsey Stanley, and their kids.
24.
Tim Cahill lived in Grays, Essex with family until he was signed by Millwall on a free transfer from Sydney United.
25.
Tim Cahill helped Millwall reach the 1999 Football League Trophy Final where they lost to Wigan Athletic.
26.
Tim Cahill reached two play-off semi-finals with Millwall in 2000 and 2002.
27.
Tim Cahill was a central part of Millwall's run to the 2004 FA Cup Final, their first appearance in the showpiece in club history, scoring the winning goal in the semi-final against Sunderland, and securing a UEFA Cup place in the process.
28.
Tim Cahill polled over 100,000 votes to win the FA Cup "Player of the Round" award for his performance during the semi-final victory.
29.
Tim Cahill made 249 overall appearances for The Lions, scoring 56 goals in the process.
30.
In October 2006, Tim Cahill was named as one of 50 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first Everton player in 18 years to be nominated, and the only player on the list from an AFC nation.
31.
Tim Cahill has made a corner flag goal celebration his "trademark".
32.
Tim Cahill scored two goals against Aston Villa on 14 April 2010, both coming from headers to move his goal tally for the season to nine goals, all coming from his head.
33.
Tim Cahill scored his last league goal in December 2010 away to Manchester City and went the whole of 2011 without finding the net.
34.
On 13 May 2012, during Everton's last match against Newcastle United at Goodison Park, Cahill was sent off for violent conduct after the full-time whistle for an altercation with Yohan Cabaye.
35.
Tim Cahill made his MLS debut in a game against the Houston Dynamo the following month.
36.
Tim Cahill replaced suspended forward Bradley Wright-Phillips in the second leg of the Red Bulls' MLS Cup semi-final against the New England Revolution on 29 November 2014.
37.
On 2 February 2015, Tim Cahill left New York Red Bulls by mutual agreement.
38.
On 16 February 2016, Tim Cahill announced on social media that he had terminated his contract with Shanghai by mutual agreement upon being told that he was not part of new coach Gregorio Manzano's plans for the 2016 Chinese Super League season.
39.
On 22 February 2016, it was reported that Tim Cahill signed with Chinese Super League club Hangzhou Greentown.
40.
Tim Cahill decided to come back to Australia for his family in the summer of 2016.
41.
On 11 August 2016, Tim Cahill signed a three-year contract with A-League club Melbourne City, with the plan to play the first two years and then take on a coaching role for the third year.
42.
Tim Cahill opened the scoring with a spectacular volley into the top corner from 35 metres out after 27 minutes.
43.
On 4 February 2017, just as he was preparing to come on as a substitute against Melbourne Victory FC, Tim Cahill was sent off for using "insulting, offensive, abusive language towards a match official" after he angrily disputed a goal with Chris Beath.
44.
On 6 December 2017, Cahill left Melbourne City after not getting enough game time, in a bid for more game time at club level to boost his chances to get selected for the Australian squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
45.
On 1 September 2018, Tim Cahill signed with Indian Super League club Jamshedpur.
46.
On 28 March 2019, Tim Cahill announced his retirement from football.
47.
Tim Cahill made his debut for the under-20 team at the age of 14.
48.
Tim Cahill played alongside his older brother Sean, who was a goalkeeper.
49.
In February 2002, Tim Cahill received an offer to play for the Republic of Ireland at the 2002 FIFA World Cup by Mick McCarthy, his former manager at Millwall.
50.
Tim Cahill has Irish grandparents and McCarthy had hoped that Tim Cahill would be interested.
51.
However Tim Cahill was not eligible as he was cap-tied to Samoa.
52.
FIFA changed its eligibility rules in 2003, allowing players capped at junior levels to switch international allegiance, meaning that Tim Cahill was then able to play for England, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Samoa.
53.
Tim Cahill chose to represent the country of his birth, declaring it a "special moment".
54.
Tim Cahill made his debut for Australia in a friendly against South Africa on 30 March 2004 at Loftus Road, London.
55.
Tim Cahill made his competitive debut for Australia at the 2004 OFC Nations Cup.
56.
Tim Cahill finished the competition as second-highest scorer in the competition with six goals, and was the top scorer in the final round.
57.
Tim Cahill helped Australia reach the quarter-final stage of the men's football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
58.
Tim Cahill played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and, in Australia's opening group game against Japan, became the first ever Australian to score a World Cup goal.
59.
Tim Cahill played in the group game against Brazil, which Australia lost and a drawn group game against Croatia.
60.
Tim Cahill was on the Australian team which reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.
61.
Tim Cahill was instrumental in Australia's qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, scoring goals in crucial matches against Qatar and Japan.
62.
Tim Cahill played in the final group match against Serbia, where he scored in the 69th minute.
63.
Tim Cahill was named to the 23-man squad for the 2011 Asian Cup campaign.
64.
Tim Cahill scored three goals during the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign as Australia reached a third consecutive finals.
65.
Tim Cahill scored Australia's only goal in their opening group match against Chile on 13 June 2014.
66.
Tim Cahill joined Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, Mexican defender Rafael Marquez, Dutch players Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben, German player Miroslav Klose, and American Clint Dempsey as the only players to score at the 2006,2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.
67.
Tim Cahill's goal was later nominated for the best World Cup goal in the tournament but fell short to the eventual winner James Rodriguez with his goal against Uruguay.
68.
Tim Cahill was selected under manager Ange Postecoglou as part of his squad which competed in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
69.
Tim Cahill was chosen to start against Jordan in a top-of-the-group clash, in which he notched a brace on 29 March 2016.
70.
On 16 July 2018, Tim Cahill announced his retirement from international soccer, subsequently overturned with the decision to participate in one final home friendly against Lebanon in November 2018.
71.
Tim Cahill became involved with two soccer academies in 2009, one based in Wollongong, Australia in partnership with Wollongong Police and Community Youth Club, and another in partnership with 'Elite Sporting Academy' in Dubai.
72.
Tim Cahill has featured in EA Sports' FIFA video game series, and has featured as a cover star on several editions of the game.
73.
In 2010 Tim Cahill married his childhood sweetheart Rebekah Greenfield in Las Vegas, en route to Sydney.
74.
Tim Cahill lived in Saddle River, New Jersey while playing for the Red Bulls.
75.
Tim Cahill was officially announced as an ambassador for Australia's Securities Broker ACY Securities on 30 October 2019.
76.
In 2022, Tim Cahill was hired as the sporting executive of the FIA-sanctioned international off-road racing series Extreme E team XE Sports Group.
77.
In 2024, Tim Cahill was widely rumoured to be the new CEO of Malaysia's national football team was named as the personal advisor to Tunku Ismail Idris, Regent of Johor, regarding matters of sports and international relations.