Socceroos star Tim Cahill says Chile defender Gonzalo Jara admitted to cheating to orchestrate Cahill's yellow card in Saturday morning's World Cup game in Cuiaba.

The veteran Socceroo claims he should have been awarded a penalty after a shirt-tug from Jara in the box in the 51st minute when Chile led 2-1.

Cahill was then booked for tangling with Jara before the break after heading in his team's only goal in the 3-1 Group B loss to the South Americans.

Coming off at half-time he was seen arguing with Chile's Arturo Vidal, and later explained the nature of that altercation with the Juventus star.

"There was an incident where the left-back [Jara] elbowed me and kicked out at me when I was trying to run past him for a cross, and I've got the yellow card," Cahill said.

"I called him a cheat and he said, 'Yeah, I'm a cheat, so what?'

"I said to Vidal, 'This is no good, this needs to be out of the game.'"

Australia started disastrously and was two goals down before the quarter of an hour, but a Cahill-inspired turnaround saw the Socceroos finish strongly, with the former Everton star even getting a second goal only for it to be disallowed for offside.

But Cahill said FIFA officials had told players before the tournament in Brazil they would clamp down on shirt tugs such as defender Jara's pull.

"We had talks with the FIFA officials about any sort of handling on the shirt, it's going to be dealt with strictly,'' Cahill said.

"Everything seemed to go their way, whether it was a touch that went out for a corner or a slight free-kick, we didn't get the rub of the green at all.

"It's frustrating because little circumstances could've been different - you could feel the tide was starting to turn in our favour.

"It's beyond me how some of the calls and they were getting a lot in their favour.''

It should have been a penalty: Postecoglou

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou backed Cahill, saying he believed a penalty should have beeen awarded.

Group B Team P Pts The Netherlands 3 9 Chile 3 6 Spain 3 3 Australia 3 0

But he conceded his players were "overawed" early in the game, which ultimately proved costly.

"We should have probably been awarded a penalty because the only way they could stop him was by holding on to his shirt," Postecoglou said.

"The players are very disappointed because they sensed that the game was there for them and they thought they could get something out of the game.

"So to walk off and cop that late goal, it's very deflating."

The Socceroos now head for a clash with table toppers the Netherlands, while Chile faces Spain, crushed 5-1 by the Dutch, in Rio's Maracana stadium on Wednesday.

Despite facing a team that put Spain to the sword, Cahill says the Socceroos believe in themselves to pull off an upset.

"For me it's all about defining moments. I've said this every single time, being one of the older boys: this is the stage to do it. When you're called upon you have to show up," he said.

"We believe in our football, we believe in our structure. Last week they were questioning if we could create chances. Tonight we created quite a lot.

"At the start[against Chile] we showed a bit of fear, and then when we stepped up and started getting in their faces.

"When they show aggression, we have to show some at the same time.

"We did that and we'll learn from this and we'll go into the next game [against the Netherlands] very positive.

ABC/AFP