The Everton star echoed his heroics in Australia's 3-1 World Cup victory over Japan last summer as he came off the bench to spare his side's blushes with the equaliser in their opening AFC Asian Cup encounter against the Middle East side.

And after stating before the tournament how much he wanted to also score Australia's inaugural goal in the Asian Cup, the 27-year-old got his wish in rescuing a point against Oman to leave Group A delicately poised after Thailand's 1-1 draw with Iraq on Saturday.

It is a moment he will savour for the rest of his career.

"What happened for me (against Oman) is priceless," Cahill said.

"You can't take that away and you can't take away the first World Cup goal.

"I have got a lot of respect for this first goal in this competition because the Asian nation is magic. There are millions of people here and it is a massively watched tournament.

"I am pretty lucky. I said to myself if I got the chance I would take it and it came against Oman and it is another big moment in my career."

Australia clearly struggled to adapt to the humidity in Bangkok and were frustrated by a determined Oman, who took the lead in the first half through a Badar Mubarak strike.

It could have been a different story but for Mark Schwarzer pulling off a number of superb saves late on.

And it paid off as Cahill, who entered the game midway through the second period, pounced on a spilled Mark Bresciano shot to ensure Australia's campaign did not get off on the wrong foot.

Another good performance from Cahill suggests he is close to full fitness after breaking his fifth metatarsal against Sheffield United in the Premier League in March.

A place in the starting line-up cannot be far off but the midfielder insists he is happy just to play a part for his country.

"I am happy being a part of this squad," he added.

"I said that from day one and as long as you can play in any shape or form on the pitch and make something happen, I am happy."

After torrential rain had affected the tournament's opening game between Thailand and Iraq, the skies cleared to give way to bright sunshine on Sunday.

Consequently the humidity was fierce, clearly affecting the Socceroos and Cahill admitted that the stifling conditions are proving difficult to adapt to.

"It will most probably be like this throughout the whole tournament;" he said.

"Hopefully we can go grow stronger but when you play in conditions like this, it is so hard.

"You can't warm up in the humidity. It didn't affect them at all, they kept going to the end and Schwarzer had to pull off saves otherwise it could have been a different story."