football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He scored his only goal of the competition in a 5–1 win over Serbia. Australia were knocked out of the competition by Iraq following a 1–0 loss. Following his performances in the OFC Nations Cup and Summer Olympics competitions Cahill was named Oceania Footballer of the Year for 2004. 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Frank Farina named Cahill in his squad for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. However the tournament was not a success for the Socceroos as they were eliminated at the group stage in a group that contained Argentina, Germany and Tunisia. Cahill played in all three games of Socceroos campaign. 2006 FIFA World Cup Cahill played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and, in Australia's opening group game against Japan, became the first ever Australian to score a World Cup goal. Scoring a second goal in the same game, he earned man of the match honours. Cahill also played in the group game against Brazil, which Australia lost and a drawn group game against Croatia. Cahill played the entire "round of 16" match against eventual World Cup winners Italy, which Australia lost 0–1. 2007 Asian Cup Cahill was on the Australian team which reached the quarter finals of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. As he was recovering from injury, Cahill was used as a substitute throughout the tournament. 2010 FIFA World Cup Cahill was instrumental in Australia's qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, scoring goals in crucial matches against Qatar and Japan. At this time, former Australian coach Rale Rasic described Cahill as the best Australian footballer he had seen in his lifetime. Despite earlier injury concerns, Cahill played in Australia's opening group game at the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Germany where he controversially received a straight red card in the 56th minute, which meant he missed the group match against Ghana in Rustenburg. Cahill played in the final group match against Serbia, where he scored in the 69th minute. After the tournament, Cahill had scored a total of three FIFA World Cup goals, which is a national record. 2011 Asian Cup Cahill was named to the 23-man squad for the 2011 Asian Cup campaign. The Socceroos made a bright start to the tournament by beating India 4–0, with Cahill scoring twice. The final was played between Japan and Australia which resulted in a 1–0 loss from a 109th