Tim Cahill 'I didn't move for money'
Football star Tim Cahill says he moved to China for the fans not the money, in an exclusive interview with Sunday Night.
Our most celebrated player signed to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua in February for a rumoured $10 million contract and Sunday Night has been granted a rare look inside the headquarters.
"[People say] 'you only signed in China for the money', well I've turned down double from the middle east," he said.
"I didn't choose there because I want to play in front of 50,000 people every week. I want to have the feeling of belonging to fans and to a top club."
The 35-year-old is one of Australia’s best-ever players. He's made 83 appearances for the Socceroos and scored 39 goals. His brace against Japan at the 2006 FIFA World Cup led Australia to the knockout stage of the showpiece tournament for the first time.
After joining English club Millwall as a junior in 1997, the tenacious midfielder and forward became one of English Premier League club Everton’s favourite sons, playing 226 games and scoring 56 goals before joining Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls in 2012.
He said the move to Shanghai has been an enriching experience for his family and they are immersing themselves in the culture.
It was a move by Cahill that put a spotlight on the secretive new force in global football - the China Super League.
President Xi Jinping is a soccer fanatic and in order to see China host and win a World Cup the league is scooping up experienced players from the world’s best teams.
It is a multi-million dollar push to put China on the football map and Cahill says the fanbase is beyond anything he experienced playing in the English Premier League or in the US.
"I want to be involved in development and I want to be involved in being a bridge from Australia to China," he says.
More than 6000 schools in China have a dedicated soccer teacher now and that number will rise to 20,000 by 2017.
"You'll see the footage, every game they sing my name constantly throughout the whole game … the passion that they've invested in me is because I think they know I want to do well."
Cahill is also making a splash in the business world - recently launching his own clothing line called Cahill+.
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