The day was October 20th, 2013. Houston Dynamo warmed up on the field of BBVA Compass Stadium.The rambunctious fans turned the already hot “Orange Oven” into an unbearable mine field of shouts and jeers towards their enemies from New York. I was in the stands joining the fan’s chants in support of the Dynamos. We started to take our seats, as the game was seconds away from kick off. A whistle blew signaling the start of the game, but before I could even sit down I heard a loud cheer from the small number of Red Bull fans in the stadium. The Red Bulls had scored, and it was a goal from Tim Cahill. I heard the murmurs of disbelief from the Houston fans around me. They said things like “what?” “already?” and “was that a f**cking goal!” Tim Cahill had literally scored before my butt could even reach my seat.

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Eight seconds was all it took for the veteran “Socceroo” to score the fastest goal in MLS history. To all of us at that game, it was a stellar sight that forced us to rub our eyes in disbelief, but to Cahill it was just another day in the office. The game ended 3-0 thanks to the skill and dominance Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill brought to the field. I remember thinking to myself on that day, ‘I can’t believe I got the chance to see the great Thierry Henry play,’ completely disregarding Cahill’s earlier work of art. My thought pretty much summed up the general theme of Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill’s partnership at New York Red Bull. MLS fans were mesmerized by the change of pace in our developing league. The two legends added a level of competition and skill that the MLS desperately needed. Sadly people often overlooked Cahill’s contributions to the New York side, because they were so excited just thinking about the name “Henry” on the back of their Red Bull jerseys.

You would think that after many great seasons in the MLS, he would gain the respect of the league fan base, but sadly that has not really been the case, at least from what I have seen so far. Case and point, Thierry Henry has recently departed the New York Red Bulls after retiring from soccer in general. I remember seeing news of that everywhere, there was coverage from ESPN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Even Fox News mentioned something about it….Fox News. Yet recently Tim Cahill has left the New York based club for a team in the Chinese league (Shanghai Shenhua). The thing is, I don’t recall hearing one word of this from the news, I actually discovered this move from an online soccer message board.

Many could (and probably will) argue that Thierry Henry’s recognition comes from respect of his brilliant career, and the European technique that he brought to American soccer. As a lifelong Barcelona fan, trust me, I know all these things. He is probably one of the finest players the Premier League, La Liga, and the MLS will ever have the luxury to see. But in all of this, people often forget Cahill’s prolific career. Cahill in his prime could probably have played for one of the top European teams, but because of loyalty to his former club (at the time Everton) he never left until age added rust to the machine that is Tim Cahill. He felt it was time for a new challenge. His career at Everton was nothing less than extraordinary. He became Everton’s top scorer his debut season, and the very next year he became the first Everton player to have been nominated for a “FIFA Ballon D’or” in eighteen years. Not to mention his many accomplishments for the national team. As an all-time, top goal scorer for the Australian national team, he joined the list of player’s to score in three World Cups, along with Robben, Van Persie, Klose, and Dempsey. He has had stellar performance in all three of his World Cups (including a wonder goal he scored against the Netherlands), not to mention when this news of him leaving came about he had just played a key role in Australia’s first ever championship in the Asian Cup of Nations. Still barely any word of his departure.

Even with all of these accomplishments, at the end of the day, Tim Cahill played a key role in the Red Bulls game. The work ethic, and physicality the Australian veteran took with him caught the attention of casual fans all over the country. His contributions on the field will be missed by the Red Bulls, and the MLS alike.