Legend of Cahill Continues

Last December, I wrote a post (http://englishsoccertalk.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-there-anyone-more-clutch-than-tim.html) detailing the impressive late-game exploits of Everton and Australia attacking midfielder Tim Cahill.

There is no doubt that Cahill is the most clutch player in the world, bar none. Cristiano Ronaldo? No. Lionel Messi? Nope. Fernando Torres? No.

If your team needs a goal to either equalize or win a match, Cahill is the man for you. He has a remarkable knack for being in the right place at the right time, and most importantly, burying the chance. Cahill isn't what you'd call a natural goalscorer, it just seems like every goal he does score is so important, so significant. He'll often pop up from nowhere to convert the finish, which is amazing because you'd think opposing defenders would be marking him so tightly given his reputation and penchant for heroics.

He struck again today, scoring the 77th-minute winner off a corner kick in Everton's 3-2 victory over Stoke City, rescuing the three points after Stoke had climbed back from 2-0 down. He also had the assist on Yakubu's goal, which put the Toffees two goals to the good. That's Timmy Cahill in a nutshell for you. He gets himself in the right position and when he gets an opportunity, he makes it count. He's gutsy and hard-nosed and is at his best when the situation means the most. That's the type of player I'll take on my team any day.

His only problem is a significant one -- staying healthy. He missed the start of this season with a fractured metatarsal, the same one that caused him to miss a considerable amount of time last year. A knee injury cost him eight weeks in late 2006. Various knocks and nagging injuries have blighted Cahill's career, but when he's fit, he's extraordinarily valuable.

Cahill's Injury is a Massive Blow for Everton

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill will likely miss the rest of the season, manager David Moyes said today, after the Australian was diagnosed with a recurrence of a broken bone in his foot.

It's no secret that I think very highly of Cahill as a player; in December, I wrote a post illustrating and praising his proclivity to come up with clutch goals for his team time after time after time, for both Everton and Australia. This is a guy who plays in the center and can really spur attacks out of what is an otherwise fairly pedestrian Everton midfield. As I said, he scores big goals almost routinely and just has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and that can't be underestimated in soccer.

Without him, it's just difficult to see how the Toffees could finish ahead of hated rivals Liverpool in the Premiership, hopes of which were fading anyway. They'd certainly need a result at Anfield in the second Merseyside derby of the year on Sunday, preferably a win, but who's going to score that clutch goal? Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel are more than capable of shutting the Yak down and if they do, who else for Everton will step up?

That's the question not only for this game, but for the rest of the season as well. It's feasible that Portsmouth and Aston Villa can catch Everton and turn what was a possible 4th place finish and Champions League berth into a 7th place finish and not even another crack at the UEFA Cup. I'm not saying that is what will happen, but I truly believe that losing Timmy Cahill will be a huge blow to this team.

Everton's record in all competitions when Cahill has played is an astounding 19-4-5. Sounds like a pretty valuable player to me.

Is There Anyone More Clutch than Tim Cahill?

Timmy Cahill's 85th minute goal today against Zenit St. Petersburg propelled Everton into the Round of 32 in the 2007-2008 edition of Europe's second tier club competition, the UEFA Cup.

The Australian international's tally this afternoon got me thinking, and when I sat down and tossed a few names around in my head, I couldn't come up with any player more clutch than Cahill. There is no one I'd rather want on my team when I need a goal with 10 minutes or so left in a game, whether it be an equalizer or a winner.

A few recent cases in point:

June 12, 2006: Australia was down 1-0 to Japan in the opening group stage match for both teams in the 2006 World Cup, and Cahill came on in the 52nd minute as a substitute. In a group with Brazil and Croatia, this was a game Australia simply could not afford to lose if they had any hope of advancing to the Round of 16. Cahill's 84th minute tally from close range to equalize was dramatic enough, but he took it one notch further just five minutes later when he scored again to snatch full points for the Socceroos.

July 8, 2007: Australia was minutes, if not seconds away from what would have been an embarrassing loss to Oman in the opening group stage match for both teams in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. Again, a loss there would have really dealt Australia a serious blow towards qualifying for the next round in a competition they were expected to win. Cahill, again on as a substitute (due to injury, he wasn't fit to play all 90 minutes but would have if he was healthy), scored in the 92nd minute to give Australia a point. That late equalizer was huge because both Australia and Thailand had 4 points from 3 games in the group stage, but Australia went through with a better goal differential. Without that point, Australia would have likely finished behind Thailand and Oman to finish 4th out of 4.

We've seen what he's done for his country, and he's done it for his club as well.

October 31, 2007: It was the 4th Round of the Carling Cup and Everton had a tricky matchup at Luton Town. After 90 minutes, the score was still 0-0 and extra time was needed to determine which team would move on in England's second tier domestic competition. Cahill had come on as a substitute again (in the 77th minute), and in the 101st minute, he came up with yet another big goal to put Everton ahead and the Toffees held Luton off for the last 19 minutes to advance to their first Carling Cup quarterfinal in 19 years.

November 11, 2007: Not only did Cahill score another late goal for Everton, this one might end up as the goal of the Premiership season this year. Everton were losing 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in a game that Chelsea were taking it to the Toffees. Chelsea outshot Everton 16-6 (10-2 in shots on goal) and had a 59%-41% advantage in time of possession. None of this mattered to Cahill, and his spectacular overhead kick in the 90th minute gave Everton an undeserved, but much applauded, share of the spoils. He didn't come on as a sub in this game, but who cares?

I did some research on ESPN Soccernet in preparation for this post, and although I've given four examples of Cahill's aptitude for late-game heroics, his résumé is even more impressive. Of the 38 goals Cahill has scored for club and country in competitive matches since the 2004-2005 season, a whopping 11 of them have been late-game (75th minute or later) equalizers or game-winners. Overall, 20 of those 38 goals fit into either of those two categories.

I can't think of anyone more clutch than Tim Cahill. If you can, feel free to leave a comment and explain your reasoning for whomever you choose.