Soccer-Australia's Cahill sees coaching role in distant future

By Ian Ransom

MELBOURNE, June 9 (Reuters) - A coaching career beckons for Tim Cahill when he hangs up his boots for the last time, but Australia's attacking midfielder would rather use his head to score goals than strategise from the sidelines for a few years yet.

The 33-year-old, who plays club football for New York Red Bulls, is part of an ageing core of Socceroos players who will again be counted on to secure Australia a place in a third successive World Cup.

Despite a stuttering campaign in the final phase of Asian qualifying, Australia have their World Cup fate in their hands and need home wins over Jordan on Tuesday and against Iraq the following week to secure a ticket to Brazil next year.

While Australia's 40-year-old goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has stated Brazil would be his international swansong, Cahill said he planned to be among the Socceroos in some way, shape or form for as long as he could hang on.

"I'll play as long as possible," the former Millwall and Everton midfielder told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

"The years to come, whether I'm on the pitch or off it, so long as I'm part of the squad, as long as possible.

"I love it ... I definitely want to do something to boost (Australian soccer), obviously being an Australian coach and obviously, the grass-roots side in Australia, I'd love to do something like that later on, but a lot later."

Like Schwarzer, 35-year-old captain Lucas Neill and fellow 33-year-old midfielder Mark Bresciano, Cahill will bid for a third successive World Cup appearance with a team that has struggled to regenerate since the 2010 South Africa finals.

Australia's failure to produce a new crop of players to take over has caused some angst Down Under and been blamed in part for the team's erratic qualifying campaign.

Few local soccer fans would begrudge Cahill from hanging on, however, given his outsized role in Australia's World Cup history.

Cahill is Australia's top World Cup goalscorer with three goals, and became his country's first to score at the global tournament when he netted a brace against Japan at the 2006 finals in Germany.

He heads into the Jordan match with 27 international goals, sitting third on Australia's all-time list behind retired striker Damian Mori (29) and Socceroos team mate Archie Thompson (28).

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Cahill has again been influential in bringing the Socceroos to the verge of Brazil, scoring a trademark header against Oman in March to help his team to a 2-2 draw in Sydney and cobble a point after appearing set for an embarrassing defeat.

Cahill was stifled by a wary Japan defence in the Socceroos' defiant 1-1 draw in Saitama last week, but said he hoped to be able to cut loose at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium against Jordan, who upset the Socceroos 2-1 in Amman in their preceding fixture last year.

"I think it will definitely be a different game against Jordan if selected," said Cahill, who has made an art-form of heading important goals for Australia despite his modest 1.78 metre height.

"Hopefully, I'll get more space, and if not, if three or four want to jump on my back, you'll see the likes of the boys coming through the middle producing the goods."

Australia are locked on seven points with Jordan in Asia's Group B, with both in contention to secure the second automatic berth to Brazil. Japan have already qualified by clinching the first.

The Socceroos have been troubled at times by the defensive games brought by lower-ranked, cagey Middle Eastern rivals and Cahill said beating Jordan would be a matter of worrying about their own game.

"We showed that we can play a high-tempo game (against Japan)," he added. "I think the last time we played against Oman, (with) a slow tempo in the first half the energy wasn't there ... So we can't play into their hands.

"For us, it's just making sure we concentrate on really going that extra mile to really put them under pressure and make them feel uncomfortable at our place." (Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/soccer-australias-cahill-sees-coaching-role-distant-future-070649196.html

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