Why Cahill, Arzani must be given a shot at Denmark
The Socceroos' two game-breaking talents sit at opposite ends of their careers and opposite ends of the substitutes' bench. Now it's time both are unleashed on the pitch, against Denmark.
Australia’s two game-breaking talents book-end a generation. At one end of the bench sits the young, cocky and sublimely talented Daniel Arzani. Fleet of foot, the Melbourne City prodigy has danced and weaved his way into the consciousness of the Australian public like a cool change on a hot summer’s day.
Deemed to be lacking the fitness required to negotiate the undulating currents of a top level international match, Arzani sits among Australia’s substitutes like a coiled snake, waiting to strike fear into the legs of tiring opponents. As yet in Russia, that hasn’t happened - the idea of what Arzani could become almost more appealing to fans than the raw reality. Glimpses of Arzani befuddling opponents in training conjure memories of Kewell in his pomp. In the heat of the battle, the story is different as the Australia coaching staff carefully unwrap the layers of cotton wool covering this generational talent.
At the other end of the bench is Tim Cahill, the elder statesman in this generation of Socceroos; a seasoned warrior just as capable of changing the course of a match in his 37th year, as he was at age 24, when he made his Socceroos debut.
Held back from the Socceroos’ opening 2-1 loss to France, Cahill must be given some time against Denmark, if for nothing else than his ability to get his head onto the end of those looping Aaron Mooy crosses.
As football fans have seen over the past four World Cups, to underestimate Cahill's abilities on the grandest stages the game has to offer is to ignore the lessons of history. The veteran has proven time and again, from his first tournament in 2006 to last year's tense qualifying play-off matches, that he possesses that rarest of abilities to deliver when the Socceroos need it most.
It's why the sight of Cahill one end of the bench is as comforting as the the sight of Arzani at the other end. Now it's time to see more of both of them on the pitch.
