Arjen Robben fired the Netherlands into a 20th-minute lead in Porto Alegre, but the Oranje were ahead for less than 60 seconds as Cahill thundered home Ryan McGowan's right-wing cross.
The Socceroos eventually lost 3-2 and exited the tournament after losing all three group games. But for Cahill, featuring at his third World Cup finals, the goal gave him a moment he’ll never forget.
Speaking exclusively in the June 2018 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, available to buy now, he says: “Yeah, that one’s up there, for difficulty and also for the way it went in.
“I’ve always been a strong believer in just taking a chance. I know I’m either going to hit the back of the net or Row Z, and mentally it doesn’t bother me if it hits Row Z as I will do it again – I’ll look for another moment to make somebody say, ‘Wow’.
“I can’t explain how it felt to score that goal – it was like an out-of-body experience. All you can do to understand how much it meant to me is watch it and see me going crazy during the celebrations.”
Targeting a fourth World Cup finals appearance this summer, Cahill rejoined former club Millwall in January, having made 250 outings for the Lions from 1997 to 2004 and reached the FA Cup final.
The 38-year-old has played club football in the United States, China and Australia since leaving Everton in 2012, and he believes the intense levels of training in England gives him the best chance of being picked for this summer’s extravaganza.
“The big thing was competitiveness and level of training,” he says. “At my last training camp with the national team my stats were up, so coming back was the best thing that I could do.”
Read the full One-on-One interview with Tim Cahill in the June 2018 issue of FourFourTwo magazine. The latest in our series of World Cup special issues, we chat exclusively to Harry Kane and analyse the challenges facing Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in their bid to achieve international immortality. Plus, we hear from Davor Suker, Hristo Stoichkov, Toto Schillaci about how to win the Golden Boot, wonder what’s happened to 2014 hero Mario Gotze, definitively reveal which of the 20 tournaments is the best ever, and preview the 2018 World Cup with a comprehensive 68-page guide to this summer's finals in Russia. Order your copy of FourFourTwo today, and then become a subscriber!
‘Scoring in a World Cup is like winning the title – can you imagine millions of people celebrating something you did? It’s insane and made me very proud’: Brazil legend explains how much 2002 goal meant to him
'He already had the ability but didn’t use it because he was afraid to shoot – I said, "You’re a player who has to decide games – you have to take risks, mate"': Liverpool star was forced to become confident by team-mates
