Cahill not guaranteed spot on plane to Russia
FOOTBALL: Socceroos boss Bert van Marwijk has revealed Tim Cahill’s Russian flight reservation is on hold.
The Australian record goalscorer’s hopes of making a fourthstraight FIFA World Cup were boosted with selection in the Dutchman’s first squad for the friendlies against Norway and Colombia, starting Saturday week.
Cahill, 38, has played just 39 minutes in six appearances since joining Millwall, though it’s coincided with the Lions picking up 17 of a possible 21 points, prompting manager Neil Harris to praise Cahill’s impact.
Van Marwijk said Jamie Maclaren, the striker who was left out of the squad despite scoring for Hibernian last week, wasn’t ruled out of the World Cup and nor was Cahill ruled in.
“I know and I heard (he’s) very important for the national team. But it’s no guarantee for him that I will nominate him for the (World Cup),” van Marwijk said.
“But for me it’s also important to give him a signal that he’s an important payer. I’d like to (get) to know him and meet him, I want to see him.
“The next two months are very important not only for him (Cahill), but for all the players to show me they are fit and playing regularly. He’s a player who was very important for the national team in the qualification and the play-offs and it’s a very good signal from him that he went to England to play to make a chance for the world championships.
“He didn’t play a lot and it’s important that players have rhythm and play. But there always are exceptions. So it’s not a guarantee for any player who is nominated now that they will also be nominated for the (World Cup).
“We saw (Maclaren) play last weekend, he did well. He’s a completely different player to Cahill and Juric (and) I have a lot of attacking possibilities in this squad. He’s (on) the radar. We know him, we see him, we keep following him. This is not the final squad.”
Van Marwijk also offered hope to the likes of Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City) and Brandon Borrello (Kaiserslautern), who missed out despite stunning 2018 form.
“We keep looking at them and we already show, Borrello for example and Arzani, they are young players and at this moment they are not ready to join the national team, but we’ll keep following them,” he said.