Tim Cahill waits on FIFA red-card ruling

* David Lewis in Durban
* From: News Limited newspapers
* June 15, 2010
A SHATTERED Tim Cahill will know overnight whether his World Cup is over following his red card against Germany, with Football Federation Australia due to receive an FIFA ruling on whether his one-game ban has been upgraded to two matches.

It that is the case, Cahill - who broke down in tears in the aftermath of his controversial send-off for a rash lunge at Germany"s Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 4-0 loss - will be out of Australia's final two group games against Ghana on Saturday and Serbia on Wednesday week.

And In all likelihood he would only play again at the World Cup were Australia to qualify for the final 16, a remote possibility considering the meekness of their capitulation against Joachim Low's terminators in Durban on Monday morning.

Or, alternatively, if a permitted appeal to FIFA's match review panel overturned a two-match ban to just one game.

An anxious Cahill, who was exonerated by the man whom he fouled in a magnanimous post-match gesture, sought to put the angst behind yesterday as he trained with the team knowing that his World Cup hangs in the balance.


Indications are that Cahill could escape with a one-game suspension owing to the apparent harshness of Mexican referee Marco Rodrigruez's decision to summarily dismiss him for what looked more a yellow card offence than a red.

Eithter way though, Australia's main goal threat - whose dismissal left the Socceroos with 10 men for a harrowing 33 minutes against the rampant Germans - will definitely miss Saturday's must-win duel with Ghana after an incident he described as the "saddest" moment of his career.

His face stained by tears in a post-match interview, Cahill said: "It just proves how dreams can be crushed in seconds. I never went out to hurt him and was genuinely going for the ball. I kept my knee bent to make sure that's what happened.

"I felt the incident turned the game because although we were two goals down at the time we had a bit of momentum behind us and were making them work hard and we'd begun to ask a few questions of them.

"It shows how in football you can be a hero one moment and hit the bottom the next."

A concilliatory Schweinsteiger went out of his way to console a Cahill afterwards, telling him that he should never have been sent off.

It was scant consolation for Cahill, who at least paid Schweinsteiger the courtesy of saluting his honesty.

"A lot of players could have milked that situation but for him to say I shouldn't have been sent off meant a lot to me."http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/world-cup-2010/cahill-waits-on-fifa-ruling/story-fn4ke53k-1225879644997