Evergreen Cahill’s World Cup dream still alive

KAZAN: Australia talisman Tim Cahill shot down talk of retirement on Thursday as he targets becoming just the fourth player to score at four World Cups alongside luminaries such as Pele.

But first he has to hope Australia’s Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk gives him the nod from the substitutes’ bench.Socceroos great Cahill is responsible for nearly half of Australia’s 11 World Cup goals to date.

And although he is expected to start all three Group C games — against France, Peru and Denmark — on the bench, Cahill’s dream of becoming just the fourth player after Brazil’s Pele and Germans Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose to score in four World Cups remains intact.

At 38 years old, time is against the Australian, who says he has “spent a whole year getting ready for three games”.Cahill underlined his personal ambitions, and those of an Australia team hoping to stun Euro 2016 finalists France in Kazan, on Saturday.

Asked about his future plans, he said: “The factor is, we train today, we train the day after, then we play France and that’s all that’s on my mind.“For me, being here now just means so much to me. To get on the pitch is going to be one step, to score would just be amazing. To join the list of names that are on there now would just be priceless.”At Germany 2006, then fresh-faced Everton striker Cahill struck a late double to stun Japan, setting up a 3-1 win that was crucial to their march into the last 16.