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Australian football fans should hold a special place in their hearts for Millwall FC.
It was the Lions who first took a punt on a young Australian midfielder who had moved from Sydney to London, with no future in the game secured, in the hopes of earning a spot in the squad of an English club.
Had Millwall not offered that player a trial and subsequently a contract, Tim Cahill may never have become what he has, and you shudder to think where that may have left football in this country.
Now, for the second time, Millwall is taking a punt on a 38-year-old Cahill in a move that could greatly benefit the Socceroos — and though Cahill himself was desperate to play down the 'World Cup factor' of this move, the truth was written all over his face.
At his first press conference back in England, Cahill repeatedly insisted he hadn't made the move purely to win a spot in Bert van Marwijk's 23-man squad for Russia, and that his top priority was making an impact for Millwall "on and off the park".
But his new manager Neil Harris let the cat out of the bag when he revealed that when Cahill phoned him — yes, Cahill phoned Harris to pitch the idea of a Millwall return — he told him plainly "I want to go to the World Cup".
And when questions inevitably turned to Russia, Cahill couldn't hide his enthusiasm and desire to not just play at his fourth World Cup, but to play well.
"In my experience, I'm willing to put everything on the line. I've been to three [World Cups], but also at the same time, I want to go there ready," Cahill said.
"I want to go there and be competitive, and it's very tough to be competitive if you're just going through the motions.
"I've committed to five months here without my family, because why not? How much does it mean to you as an Australian?
"It's so hard to play for Australia, it's so hard to be a professional footballer. Obviously I'm older, but it just means I have to work harder."
Cahill knows this move is a risk.
He's moved to a intensely competitive league on the other side of the world, having not so much as played a match in months, with the objective of getting fit enough and sharp enough to be impossible to ignore for van Marwijk.
But the risk is mitigated by familiarity, with both player and club hoping Cahill's move "home" will see him immediately settle and get to the task of winning a spot in the team.
Millwall, currently mid-table in England's second tier, is where Cahill says he "learnt his trade", and now he is talking about "rewarding" the club that gave him an opportunity from which he never looked back.
"I know what it's all about to play for Millwall," he said.
"I know what the badge is all about, and I know what the fans want. That's for players to be selfless and part of the group."
Those fans, for what it's worth, are delighted to see Cahill return and have only fond memories of his first spell at The Den.
Their expectations have been tempered by Harris, who has made it clear Cahill would need to go the long way to see first team action — the training pitch, maybe a game or two with the under-23s, then a bench spot and perhaps beyond.
Cahill emphasised the inherent value in just being around a club like Millwall and a league like the Championship, but Australians will be desperate to see him on the pitch sooner rather than later.
In a perfect world, perhaps Australia wouldn't still be so reliant on Cahill, but in lieu of any clear striking alternative — or at least a proven one — there is a place for Cahill in a Socceroos squad, and maybe still a crucial one.
And so, Australian football fans should continue to hold a special place in their hearts for Tim Cahill. There were so many easier routes he could have taken to Russia, but he's taken arguably the toughest in the hope that he can be more than a participant, but the same influential figure he's always been.
Topics: socceroos, soccer-world-cup, soccer, sport, england, united-kingdom
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