Cahill pays tribute to Mertens for apology
Belgian ruined player’s Euros but took chance to say sorry on a recent holiday, writes Matt Law
As Gary Cahill sat in a Dubai restaurant pondering whether his World Cup dream was over, he was approached by a familiar face. When it became clear the man walking towards him was Dries Mertens, Cahill could have been forgiven for taking it as a bad omen.
It was Belgium international Mertens who put Cahill out of the 2012 European Championship, which is the last major tournament the central defender missed, during England’s final warm-up game. Mertens pushed Cahill into goalkeeper Joe Hart and the Chelsea captain suffered a broken jaw to rule him out of the trip to Poland and Ukraine.
So, with his World Cup hopes hanging by a thread after being left out of the England squad for the March friendlies against Holland and Italy, Cahill may not have fancied a reunion.
But the men buried the hatchet and could go head-to-head again on the pitch in England’s final Group G game against Belgium in Kaliningrad tomorrow.
“I saw him while I was on holiday, he came over,” said Cahill. “It was recently, when I last missed the England squad and I went to Dubai.
“I was in a restaurant and he took time out to come over and apologise for that situation, which for me was dead and buried, but I actually respected him a hell of a lot for doing that. That’s not something he had to do, he didn’t know me, I didn’t even know he was in there to be honest. He came over and apologised for that and that’s years down the line from when it happened.
“We shook hands and I said ‘look, it’s finished with’. It was years after. I don’t know him from Adam but the guy is obviously a decent fella.”
Mertens initially apologised over Twitter for his shove on Cahill, but it went unnoticed at the time. “I’m not massive on that [Twitter] anyway,” said Cahill. “I probably wouldn’t have seen it. My head space at that moment in time, just missing the tournament, literally minutes from getting on the plane. I was dealing with that at the time.”
Asked whether he was forgiving immediately after the game, when he realised he had been ruled out of the Euros, Cahill said: “It had big consequences. Obviously, I was literally going on the plane and that was a huge time for me. I felt like I was in condition to start at that tournament. I felt the age I was at, the form I was in, I felt I would’ve played. It was a huge blow. It took a little to get over in the summer.
“At the same time, I like to see the good in people and I don’t think he did it for that reason. How many times are you playing and you kind of shove, or you’re frustrated and don’t get the ball and shove someone out the way? I think it was one of those things, it was a freak situation, I hit Joe Hart, probably one of the worst people to hit in the whole team because his shoulders are massive.
“That was that. I held no grudges against him. I was just really disappointed with my situation that I was missing that tournament. Roll down the years after that, for him to take time out, just a couple of minutes, to apologise, I really respect him for that.”
Cahill is expected to start his first game in Russia against Belgium and believes lessons from the dismal Euro 2016 elimination must be heeded.
There is a theory it would be an advantage for England to finish second in Group G. But Cahill said: “You’re talking to the wrong guy. If, and it is an if, we were to beat Belgium, I don’t think any team would want to face us.”