Cahill revealed he had been training hard with his club side Everton to ensure he arrived in Qatar in perfect form and proved it with a brace of goals for Australia in their 4-0 opening win over India.

But as he celebrated his strikes, he struck a poignant pose when he mimed a phone call to remind fans to support the telethon in aid of the killer Queensland floods.

He's already called in favours to put up five star auction prizes of flights and signed goodies for fans to bid for and help the cause.

"Everyone knows the devastation of the floods in Queensland and for me, I just thought to myself to do something special," he told Fox Sports. 

"I want people to get behind it. We are so far away and there's so little we can do, but doing that was Pick up the phone and do something special!

"It's beautiful though because you can play football and send a message by showing your passion.

"I'm very proud of what's happened tonight and I'm proud of Australia for the way they deal with the devastation in Queensland."

Now he wants to help Australia's cause by going all the way with the Socceroos in the Asian Cup after the disappointment of 2007.

"We knew beforehand that India could be dangerous," he said. "We'd watched videos of them and we knew their style and we minimised their chances.

"It was critical that we got the early goal and thankfully enough we got the goals today.

"But I think what this comes down to is discipline and work rate, and showing a good attitude to playing football - and not letting anything else get to us"

He admitted scoring against India was "special".

"It rewards the hard work off the pitch and your hard work on the pitch," he said. "Being in a tournament like this, it one of those things  you have to make sure you score.

"I've come into this tournament pumped. I've tried really hard with Everton to keep myself as fit as possible. I've come here and I've worked really hard and made sure I can leave everything on the football pitch.

"I feel brilliant. I'm willing to step up..."