The ambitious kid who dared to dream

Written by @MicallefPhilip

An inspiring story of grit, resilience and a burning desire to succeed...

Lessons can be learnt from a young, determined boy who harnessed the power of rejection to overcome obstacles on his path towards success, rising to the top of his field.

An ambitious young kid from a battling family in suburban Sydney went on to become an Australian sporting hero on the world’s biggest stage.

And he did this because of his fierce determination to succeed against all the odds and his stoic refusal to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Football is full of examples of fairytales surrounding the rise to stardom of young players who could so easily have been lost to the world game due to their unfortunate circumstances.

Most notably the uplifting stories of some top class footballers from Brazil who survived the favelas to become superstars of the game due no doubt to their special skills but also because they were prepared to rise above the squalor and beat adversity at all costs.

So when the frail fourteen-year-old son of an English father and Samoan mother was told by one of his coaches that he was not selected to play for Sydney Olympic’s youth team because he was deemed to be “too small and not strong and fast enough” he took that knock-back as a challenge and an opportunity to prove people wrong.

The player has admitted he was emotionally crushed by the turn of events and seeing all his mates play regularly did not help matters.

But the rejection would serve as a springboard for a greater and more passionate drive to achieve his goal of becoming a professional footballer.

“There’s got to be somewhere I can go to get stronger,” he told his father.

He joined the Institute of Sport in Lidcombe to work on his raw game and develop his physique and he duly earned a trial in England.

Through sheer dedication and perseverance he would become a household name in a very tough environment and he also played in no fewer than four World Cups for Australia.

His name is Tim Cahill.

The man who is regarded as Australia’s greatest Socceroo is today enjoying the life of a multi-millionaire after playing with distinction for Millwall and Everton in England before winding down his stellar career with brief stints in the United States, China and Australia.

Cahill did not have the pure skills of fellow Socceroos Harry Kewell or Mark Viduka but he made up for his lack of finesse with his athleticism, his competitive spirit and his ability to meet any challenge head-on.

Cahill was sometimes accused of selfishness on and off the field but people who know him best say that this ’me first’ approach is a result of his manic drive to succeed and achieve perfection.

Cahill’s Everton manager David Moyes regards him as one of the best signings he had ever made.

His winning mentality and versatility - having played as a striker and a midfielder - have earned him 600 appearances as a professional at club level and 108 senior caps for Australia.

Cahill is the Socceroos’ highest scorer with 50 goals, some of which came from his trademark headers.

Which is rather extraordinary considering he is not the tallest of players. The reason he became so deadly in the air is because he spent hours throughout his career working on his technique and timing.

The high point of Cahill’s international career came in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup.

In a group match against the Netherlands, Cahill scored his greatest goal for Australia with a smashing volley that was watched live by billions of fans.

The Socceroos lost the match 3-2 but from a personal perspective the sumptuous left-foot strike that went viral on the internet was the culmination of hours of practice from a young kid who dared to dream.