Qantas Socceroos

Will be forever etched in Australian football folklore, as the first Australian player to score at a World Cup finals, when he drove home the equaliser against Japan in the opening group match of Germany 2006. The rest is history, but it nearly didn’t happen.

It was a long wait for Cahill to finally achieve his dream of playing for Australia after FIFA made changes to its national team eligibility rules in 2004 (he had previously represented Samoa in a youth tournament that ruled him ineligible).

After many years of starring for Millwall in the English lower leagues, he rose to prominence in 2004, the year he made his debut for Australia, by assisting Millwall to the FA Cup final against Manchester United, which earned himself a transfer to Premier League side Everton.

A box–to–box player, he can run all day and his amazing aerial ability sees him score a lot of goals from headers, both from set pieces and open play. These attributes have made him a star player for both Everton and Australia and virtually irreplaceable.

Fought off injury to play an important but limited (due to his injuries and fitness) role in the 2007 Asian Cup finals, scoring a vital late equaliser in the opening game.

Was a central and very important figure in Australia's successful qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals and came back to haunt Japan in the final qualification game with another brace of goals that secured a valuable win and ensured top spot of their qualifying group. Signed a long-term deal with Everton just prior to the 2010 World Cup.