Australian footballer Tim Cahill "has come under fire" after using his World Cup qualifying playoff-winning goal celebration to "promote his personal sponsor," according to the London INDEPENDENT. The former Everton striker scored both goals as Australia "squeezed past Syria on Tuesday to keep the Socceroos' World Cup dreams alive." Cahill, "famed for his iconic boxing the corner flag celebration, ditched his usual post-goal amateur dramatics" in favor of running around the field "with his arms outstretched like a plane." Following his "last gasp extra-time winner," Cahill made a T symbol above his head toward the crowd. Fans "noticed a change before travel outlet TripADeal thanked their brand ambassador in an Instagram post" shortly after the game. The post has since been deleted (INDEPENDENT, 10/12).
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| Source: London INDEPENDENT |
In London, Nic White reported Cahill responded to TripADeal's post with a "series of emojis including a plane symbol, and later plugged the brand on his own feed." He wrote, "Another chapter written and plenty more to come. Amazing team performance and really proud of everyone tonight, team, staff and fans." Underneath the "innocuous message next to a series of photos from the game," he tagged @tripadeal followed by four plane symbols. Fans speculated his plane celebration "was another TripADeal plug as it was the first time he performed it, and the obvious connection to a travel site." Some fans took to social media "to accuse Cahill of only caring about money and dishonouring his uniform" (
DAILY MAIL, 10/12).
'A SHAME': In Sydney, Tyson Otto commented even for "the greatest Socceroo of them all, this is not OK." His "age-defying performance in harassing Syrian players to force turnovers, constantly making runs off the ball when his teammates were cooked in extra-time" and then seizing his moments with that "freakish ability to score when it matters was everything that makes the No. 4 Socceroos shirt one of the most revered strips in Australian sport." It is "a shame then that he chose to tarnish that same shirt after heading the Socceroos ahead with his second goal in the 109th minute" (
NEWS.COM.AU, 10/12). In Sydney, Jenna Clarke wrote how do you "celebrate a major milestone for yourself and your country?" If you are Cahill, "you use your moment of glory to plug your Byron Bay-based travel agent." Calls and emails by Fairfax Media to the "Contiki-for-Yuppies-type business" went unanswered on Thursday. The company offered National Rugby League player Jarryd Hayne A$400,000 to stay with the Gold Coast Titans earlier this year (
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 10/12).
