A lot of us first aspired to far-ranging travel and exotic adventure early in our teens; these ambitions are, in fact, adolescent in nature, which I find an inspiring idea...Thus, when we allow ourselves to imagine as we once did, we know, with a sudden jarring clarity, that if we don't go right now, we're never going to do it. And we'll be haunted by our unrealized dreams and know that we have sinned against ourselves gravely.

Cahill made his debut for the under-20 team at the age of 14. He has made a corner flag goal celebration his "trademark". However Cahill was not eligible as he was cap-tied to Samoa.

In 2007 he also became the first Australian player to score at an Asian Cup. He scored the first goal by an Australian at a World Cup and has also scored the most goals by any Australian in the World Cup. "
Cahill has become one of the highest profile footballers in the Asian Football Confederation earning 61 caps and scoring 27 goals for his country.