Former Jamshedpur FC attacker and Australian legend Tim Cahill believes that given the proper exposure, India have plenty of talented players for football to flourish in the country. Cahill, who was a part of Jamshedpur’s squad for Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19, insisted that playing more will prepare players to deal with the demands and pressure of international fixtures.

“Indian talents just need more games, get them playing all the time and competing and when they go into international fixtures, you (will) see that they can handle the pressure,” Cahill was quoted saying by ‘Star Sports Football United’ as per the Asian Football Federation website.

The 40-year-old feels that Indian football is heading in the right direction and called for unity. “The ISL and the leagues that are being played with its infrastructure are great and the only thing that the game needs more than anything is unity. Everyone is flowing in the same direction to get to that one goal – which is to win an AFC Asian Cup title, to reach the World Cup and help women’s football and to develop your own leagues,” Cahill said.

The former Australian international made 11 appearances for Jamshedpur in Hero ISL 2018-19 and scored two goals for them during that time. Even though his campaign was eventually cut short due to injury, Cahill still recalled fond memories from his time in India with Jamshedpur.

“It was amazing. I lived and breathed everything and was very close to the community as well as the owners from the Tata Group. One of the best things about the club was that everything we did was for our fans and everything Jamshedpur FC did was for players,” Cahill recollected.

Cahill, who also featured 226 times in the Premier League for Everton and became a cult hero for the Merseyside club, went on to explain why he felt blessed to be a part of Jamshedpur during his time in India. “We were around kids and in schools where we opened up training programmes. I was asked about fundamental skills and things that I do such as projects… it was just crazy. We were in the middle of nowhere and we have thousands at the game. I’m very blessed to have had that kind of experience,” he said.