This was published 12 years ago
Cahill joins elite company with World Cup goal
Cahill returned for the final group match against Serbia and scored as the Socceroos won 2-1. The goal saw him become Australia's record scorer at World Cups.
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Socceroos great Tim Cahill joined elite company with his goal against Chile, becoming one of just just eight players to have scored at three World Cup finals or more.
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Cahill opened his account in the Socceroos' first match at the 2006 tournament, which was the first time Australia had appeared at the World Cup in 32 years.
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The freak striker scored twice as the Socceroos notched a thrilling 3-1 win over Japan. As a result he became the first Australian to win a man-of-the-match award at a World Cup.
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Australia managed to qualify for the knockout stages at the tournament, but exited after a controversial loss to eventual winners Italy in the round-of-16.
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There was no early fairytale for Cahill in South Africa four years later after he was controversially sent off in Australia's first match against Germany.
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A bemused Cahill had to be made to leave the pitch and though he was forced to sit-out the Aussies' second match against Ghana, the German player he fouled later admitted that he should not have received a red card.
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The victory, however, was not enough to see Australia qualify for the knockout stages.
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Cahill travelled to Brazil as Australia's record scorer overall with 31 goals and it did not take him long to add to his tally.
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With the Australians down 2-0 after just 14 minutes against Chile, Cahill's goal in the 35th minute completely changed the complexion of the match.
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