Cahill ready to power Socceroos against Honduras

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 Tim Cahill.



Tim Cahill has declared himself fully fit and ready to go ahead of Wednesday night's deciding FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia Intercontinental Play-off against Honduras at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Cahill injured his ankle playing for Melbourne City against Sydney FC 11 days ago and travelled to Honduras under an injury cloud, and wasn't called upon by coach Ange Postecoglou in the 0-0 draw in San Pedro Sula on Friday.

But with 90, or possibly even 120 minutes left to decide Australia's fate, the 37-year-old has said he is fit and ready to help guide Australia to their fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup.

"I trained in Honduras, I trained modified (for the first few days) and then I trained fully before the game," said Cahill.

"Now I'll just train the next two days and be available for selection. I know how much this means to our country.

"With my ankle I'll have ages afterwards to fix it if anything goes wrong."

After an impressive performance in San Pedro Sula, confidence amongst the Australian team is running high and Cahill believes they have the advantage over the Central Americans.

"I think the edge we have over many teams is we look at the way our formation can break teams down," he said.

"But also I think the best thing about the last game was keeping a clean sheet and being resilient. It was a very difficult pitch, very difficult circumstances, and it was the same for them, but we kept our composure.

"The last final bit of finishing would've helped to come into this leg, but we knew the job that had to be done there to get us to this stage which was to finish it off here and now its about enjoying the moment."

And Cahill hopes he and his Socceroos teammates enjoy that moment in front of a capacity crowd at Stadium Australia, the site of some of Australia's most memorable victories.

"This stadium is awesome," he said.

"I've had a lot of success in many stadiums across Australia and around the world but (Stadium Australia) is a nice place.

"I think for us we've had some nice results and special memories (here), and I feel for our country and the sport it'd take the game to another level again.

"We are determined to fly the flag and get as many fans out there as possible. I feel in my heart it's going to be a full house and the whole nation is going to stop for this, because I know how much this game means to so many Australians.

"We want to be part of Russia and a fourth consecutive World Cup for a nation like ours would be something pretty special."

 

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