CALLING ALL THE HEROES
Cahill thought his number was up until Southgate rang him with good news
GARY CAHILL went from England captain to getting the axe within a rollercoaster 12 months.
So when Gareth Southgate called him on the eve of the World Cup squad announcement, the Chelsea defender could be forgiven for fearing the worst.
Cahill, 32, even missed Southgate’s call the first time around, listened to the voicemail and rang him back to get the good news all while driving into training - and still managed not to crash his car. It has been one hell of a ride for Cahill who now goes to Russia as England’s most experienced player, having captained his country in Germany in March 2017.
But, by March 2018, he had lost his place at Chelsea, was dropped by Southgate ( far right) and his World Cup chances looked pretty slim.
Cahill, who has won 58 caps, said: “Listen, nothing surprises me in football, sometimes it’s one of those things.
“You have a month where you score two or three goals and you’re the best thing since sliced bread. Or you have a month where you make a couple of errors and you’re finished. That’s the kind of way things go. Gareth spoke to me before he left me out in March. Obviously that will stay between me and him but I respected him a lot for that phone call because I’d sooner find out from the horse’s mouth than anywhere else. “But there were no hard feelings, no problems. It was about working hard to get back in, and I managed to do that. “I took a knock – it’s not the first I’ve taken. I just needed to work harder, get in the team and show what I could do. “On the last day of the season I lifted the FA Cup and there was the turnaround. It can happen quickly. “Of course I was desperate to go to the World Cup. I was on the way to training actually, I had missed his call, not the best thing, and I listened to the message in the car. I was desperate to go and be in the squad like anybody else. It was in the week leading up to the cup final, so my emotions were all over the place.
“My mental state was fully focussed on this final. And then that call came and obviously I was delighted to get the news. There were a lot of emotions going on, and both turned out to be very good news.
“So let’s hope that carries on into the summer.”
Cahill admits that his own season has been a “rollercoaster” with Chelsea as they surrendered their Premier League title and yet finished the campaign with the FA Cup. Antonio Conte looks set to lose his job as Blues manager, while Cahill has been in and out of the team.
Cahill added: “Naturally, you go through ups and downs. When I’m playing well and things are going successful, I try not to get carried away. Likewise I try not to get too down as well. It’s football, a bit like a rollercoaster.
“But I have always said that when you average it over a period of years you get a good level, and I believed I could get back to the level that I should be at.
“It’s been a strange season, there’s been a lot of speculation for many months now. The season has finished, it finished on a high for us, we won a major trophy so that was great for everybody, for the fans, the players and the staff.
“What will be this summer will be and as players we have no influence over that.
“Listen, Conte’s been good for me. I have taken things from him, I have enjoyed the success we’ve had together.
“Two major trophies up to now with the manager, it’s been good.
“But I’m sure you will get the answers to your questions about the future in the next month or so.”