Tim Cahill broke down in tears as he reflected on his sending-off in Australia's 4-0 thrashing by Germany and the possibility that his World Cup might now be finished. Describing himself as "shattered", the Everton midfielder said it was the "worst experience of my career" and pleaded with Fifa to show him some leniency.
Cahill was shown a red card by the Mexican referee Marco Rodríguez after a late challenge on Bastian Schweinsteiger, 55 minutes into a game in which a ruthless Germany exposed the gulf in class between the two teams. He must now wait for Fifa's disciplinary committee to make a ruling on the seriousness of the offence. If it is deemed to have been an instance of unduly reckless play, he will be suspended for the remainder of Group D. He would thus play no further part in the competition if Australia were eliminated at the end of the first stage.
"You can all see how upset I am," said Cahill. "I'm sorry to be like this. I don't usually cry but I'm just hurt. To have my World Cup shattered in that way is one of the worst things I have ever experienced. I have been through a lot of different things in football but nothing this painful and I have to admit it's hit me really hard.
"I don't have a clue what will happen now but what I can say for certain is that it's the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with as a footballer. Nothing comes close to this. It was my dream to play in my second World Cup and it was something so special for me to represent my country. To have it snatched away from me so quickly is a feeling I never want to experience again."
Cahill's only hope of playing any further part in the group phase is if Fifa decides that Rodríguez, who is officiating at his second World Cup finals, made a mistake.The Everton player said that he was not optimistic.
"Hopefully the people at Fifa will understand there was no malice about it," he said. "You know as a player when you have done a bad challenge and you hold your hands up. But it's been nice that all my team-mates have come out on my behalf and said it wasn't a red card. I'll leave it for everyone else to make up their minds.
"I was in a state of shock when I saw the red card but what you have to do in those situations is remain respectful to the referee and that's what I tried to do. I asked him about it after the game but he refused to answer. I asked the fourth official and he said he hadn't seen it."
Cahill received the support of several of his team-mates, with the Australia captain, Lucas Neill, condemning Rodríguez's performance. "It wasn't a red card," he said. "I've seen it on video and Tim goes in for the challenge but then realises he isn't going to get the ball so he actually tries to pull out. We think the decision went against us and that was the case all night. We're going to lose him for at least one game now because we can't appeal but, if he gets two games for that, the referee seriously needs to look at himself."
Cahill had to gather his composure several times as he spoke to reporters. "This was my World Cup dream and it feels like someone has taken it away from me with one decision," he said. "I trained so hard for this tournament. I played 50-odd games for Everton and kept myself in top shape and now I might not be part of the World Cup any more. I can't find the words to describe how low I feel."
