It has been a roller-coaster fortnight for Cahill. He was part of the team which qualified for the World Cup with a 0-0 draw with Qatar, was left out of the subsequent match against Bahrain because of an injury scare, endured a  week-long smear campaign and then scored two goals in Australia's win over Japan.

At the end of it all, Cahill, known for his grace and strength under pressure on the pitch feels all a but rattled and emotional. He said that was the reason behind his abrupt post-match interview on Fox Sports on Wednesday, where he ignored questions to instead simply praise the fans.

"It's really tough and you have to deal with it. Regardless of what you do as a footballer, I know that constantly people are watching you and trying to pick holes in you. That's reality," he said.

"For me, I'll be honest, I don't like doing media because I hate talking about myself. When you talk about yourself, you pump yourself up, and basically people get sick of it. I do it so I can get the message across to the fans to say thank you.

"The first goal celebration of the heart was to say thank you to the 70,000 people who have come. Not doing media doesn't mean you don't like the media, not doing media means you just need a rest and you are drained.

"There's almost so much talking you can do, I do my talking on the pitch, hopefully that's enough."

On the day after the match, Cahill was like a school kid returning home from camp. He was at once exhausted and hyperactive and in a 11-minute interview with the press, lurched from subject to subject.

It was akin to watching a nervous job interview applicant talking themselves in circles in a bid to avoid answering the next question. Perhaps part of the explanation is that Cahill only feels comfortable in the spotlight when he has a ball in front of him.

"I've come from nothing, even I have to pinch myself, even standing in places like this talking to you, it's unbelievable. I'm still the normal bloke in the street," he said.

"It doesn't feel real, none of this feels real. I walk away from here and go and do a photo shoot for Adidas and it still feels like a fairytale."

Cahill is not the only Socceroo who feels uneasy under the media spotlight. Jason Culina is one of the most eloquent speakers in the Australian team but rarely fronts the microphone. Those players instead rely on the steadiness of the likes of Vince Grella, Mark Schwarzer and Lucas Neill to do the talking for them.

But among the anxiety and the emotion of the day after the night before, Cahill did give an insight into the determination he has to succeed.

"Last night, it was a blessing what happened, reliving the Germany experience, but I was chasing that," he said. "If you see me every game, I was chasing those goals."