Decorating the walls of Tim Cahill's games room at his house on the outskirts of Manchester is a collection of over 50 framed football shirts he has collected during the last twelve years.

His most prized shirts are the eight he brought home from the last World Cup in Germany, the four Australian shirts he wore for each game, and the four shirts he collected from each of the teams he faced: Shinji Ono from Japan, Ronaldo from Brazil, Josip Simunic from Croatia and Luca Toni from Italy.

The display serves as a constant inspiration to Cahill, and a reminder of the greatest month of his professional life, when he transformed himself from a promising Premier League player into an Australian sporting icon by becoming the first (and second) player to score for his country at the World Cup finals.

"Those weeks in Germany changed my life forever," he recalls with a large smile. "The tournament was full of priceless memories that when I think about now always give me goose bumps. I want to experience that amazing feeling all over again in South Africa."

Four years on from Germany, on the eve of this year's World Cup finals, Cahill says on the surface he might
look the same - except for the addition of a tattoo covering most of his left arm - but inside he feels like a completely different player.

"Now I am a fitter, stronger and better player than ever before, 100% better than four years ago," he says. "It is weird looking back to Germany because I was really excited about it and just looking for new experiences, but I have changed a lot since then."

A wiser and more experienced player, Cahill talks about walking on to the pitch for each game with a greater sense of power and belief.

"I feel powerful, and more confident than ever, I know I can run over 12 kilometres in every game, I know I can mix it with the best defenders in the world, I have the ability and strength.

"The power I feel inside my body is there because of the way I have looked after myself, and the way I train. Sports science helps a lot and I have learned from the best in Australia and England."

"I am always thinking outside the box and doing whatever I can to help me with things like pilates and yoga, and if I have to stay after training every day until 4 o'clock I don't mind. My missus knows how much football means to me.
"At 30 I feel like this is the fittest I have ever been, and I am equipped to deal with anything."

In the four years since Germany Cahill has evolved in to Australia's most important player; off the field the poster boy for the whole sport, while on it the man they look to make something happen, the scorer of the most goals in qualifying, and their most consistent player in the world's best and most demanding league.

"I love being a leader," he says. "I love the responsibility I have for Australia, I thrive off it really. Every year gets harder, a lot more is expected of me, and the challenges get tougher, but I enjoy that part of it. I am aware that people rely on me to show up and take control of the games."

Cahill will be called upon to produce this form at the World Cup where Australia have been drawn in a forbidding group with the heavyweight triumvirate of Germany, Ghana and Serbia.

"When Germany got drawn out, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, that's pretty hard.' And then Ghana came out, and I'm thinking ‘This is not getting any easier!' and then Serbia, who won their qualifying group completes the teams!

"Serbia will be one of the hidden talents of this World Cup, they have so much class, skill and experience. Ghana are a strong side, full of raw talent, and Germany are a great tactical team, very disciplined, who have so much big tournament experience.

"The World Cup is about pitting your wits against the best, and we have to do that right from the start. Look, they are just one-off games so anything can happen, we can beat them. It is about who wants it most, and who
turns up on the day."

Given the obvious difficulty of what awaits Australia in Group D, should the nation lower their expectations and banish any hope of the Socceroos repeating the heroics of four years ago? Cahill shakes his head.

"If we don't get out of our group I will see this World Cup as a failure, and that's no disrespect to the other teams - they will be thinking the same. Our main aim is getting out of the group because that's when teams really flourish and build momentum. So long as we get through our group anything can happen.

"Getting out of the group would be a massive achievement. We did that last time, so now we want to go a step further and reach the quarter-finals. As a nation we want to test ourselves, and what better way than to try and go further than before."

The Australian side that takes to the field for the opening game against Germany at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on June 13th will have a familiar look about it, the vast majority of the starting eleven having played in Germany four years ago, and for Cahill, this is both a source of confidence for the team, and slight concern for the national side moving forward.

"Looking around the dressing room I get a lot of confidence from my team-mates. There are a lot of leaders. We work hard for each other and stick together. That lifts me. There is Schwarzy, Emo, Harry, Lucas, Bresch, Vinnie Grella. I feed off that. You know they are there to do great things and clean up your mess.

"I would love to captain Australia, but Lucas is a fantastic captain, and I don't need an armband to lead Australia. A jersey in the starting line-up is enough for me"

How would Cahill compare the Australian squad headed to South Africa with the 2006 squad? "We've lost a bit of experience with guys like Kalac, Popovic, Mark Viduka and John Aloisi, who were great to have around the dressing room and hotel, older guys you could look up to. I will miss that. Now me, Lucas, Harry are the older guys. We have a good backbone, but we're into the unknown, we will have to wait and see.

"I would have definitely liked some younger players to have come through into the side, and that does concern me a bit. We do need more talent to emerge because most of us are around 30 now. I have seen some good Australian talent come through, Dario Vidosic and Matthew Spiranovic look great players, but it would be good to see more coming through from the A-League."

Why the shortage? "I don't know really. I left at such a young age, and that was the right thing to do, as it was Harry and Lucas too. The A-League is fantastic, but the development of young players needs a lot more money pumped in to it, so we can help the young players at the grassroots level."

Despite comfortably qualifying for South Africa, the constant criticism of this Australian side is they are too defensive, too risk adverse, the 4-2-3-1 formation primarily designed not to lose. Cahill has a pithy response: "I bet you some of the teams who didn't make it to the World Cup are wishing they had been a bit more defensive. Most teams play defensively. I thought Italy were very defensive in Germany, and guess what, they won it, so I reckon that approach is the best way.

"The criticism is fair in a way, but I think a lot of it is uneducated. Look at the facts. International football is like a game of chess, you have to wait for your chance, take it, and then sit back and shut up shop and look to hit teams on the counter attack."

Would Cahill like Australia to be more attacking? "I love to be attacking, I love to score goals, the players always try to be as attacking as possible. If it was up to me I would just go and stand in the penalty box all game, but it doesn't work like that."

The architect of these tactics, Pim Verbeek has had a largely indifferent relationship with the Australian public, not possessing the glamour or immediate impact as his predecessor and compatriot Guus Hiddink. Inside the Socceroo camp he is arguably more popular than Guus.

"Pim is a legend, someone I trust a lot," says Cahill. "I would go a long way for him. He makes sure that everything is right with your family, your head, and then he talks about football. He texts us throughout the year and does things you don't expect managers to do."

How does Verbeek compare to his predecessor, Hiddink? "Guus has an aura about him, he was recognised across the world as one of the best managers. At the time he was one of the most difficult managers to understand, but afterwards he made more sense. It fell in to place for me, and I realised he got a hell of a lot out of me.

"You never knew whether you were going to get picked or not. He just demanded that you do your job, and gave you no explanation about it, but if you didn't do it he could be quite blunt."

"As for Pim, he has a softer approach, he has adopted to the Australian way, and the way he treats the players is fantastic. He is a calm character, he doesn't lose his temper too often. He knows what he wants to do and how he can improve us. I never want to let him down."

Verbeek has recently moved to stop speculation of his Socceroos' future ahead of the World Cup, by confirming he will bring his two-and-a-half year reign as the Australian manager to an end after South Africa, a move that disappoints Cahill.

"I definitely would have wanted Pim to stay after the World Cup," he says. "For me, too much change is not good for the players or the country. One thing I have done all my life is stay loyal. I like cohesion, I like to know what is happening, and for things not to change much. I suppose it is different for international managers, but for the bigger picture, the country, the players, and the overall development of Australian football, I would have liked him to stay.

"I'll tell you one thing, I don't think you'll see another Australian manager use as many A-League players as Pim. Even though he says he doesn't think the quality [of the A-League] is up to standard, he has still given a fair crack
of the whip to the players.

"The best thing about Pim is he says it how it is. If I haven't played well, he will tell me. It isn't about keeping people happy, it is about getting the best out of Australian players.

"I respect his decision, I don't know the ins and outs, but he has a family, and that should always come first, but I am really disappointed he will leave [after the World Cup]. It will be a sad day for Australian football when Pim leaves us."

Cahill is talking at a photographic studio in the centre of Manchester. He is as good company as ever, a generous and engaging character, always keen to be helpful. He has avoided the surly indifference that can often grip many of his Premier League contemporaries. His endearing enthusiasm for the game, as though he was the fan that got lucky, remains intact.

"Football has never been a job for me, I wake up every morning buzzing. I love training and playing, the last 14 years have been amazing.

"When I see myself on a big billboard or in a television commercial in Australia it still doesn't feel real. If I do a store appearance in Melbourne or Sydney there are loads of people there, queues out of the door, and you think ‘All I do is play football.' Seeing the joy you can give to people drives me on."

This summer Cahill is after more shirts infused with glorious memories to place on the wall of his games room.
"I believe I am a better, more determined player than ever before," he says. "Now hopefully you will see that because I really want to make something special happen in South Africa."

Tim Cahill will be wearing the new adidas Predator_X World Cup boots at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Predator_X World Cup incorporates the bright, vivid colours of Africa adding a new look to its already legendary power. For stockist information, call 1800 801 891 or visit adidas.com.au.

This article appeared in the May 2010 issue of FourFourTwo magazine. To buy back copies of this issue call 03-8317-8121 with a credit card to hand.