Australia football icon blasted and sparks backlash ahead of England Women's World Cup clash
Australia icon Tim Cahill has sparked a backlash ahead of England Women's World Cup
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Australia football icon Tim Cahill has sparked a backlash online ahead of Wednesday morning's Women's World Cup clash between his country and England.
The former midfielder was a huge player for the Socceroos during his time in football.
But his message to the women's team, nicknamed the Matildas, has gone down badly.
Cahill, who dazzled for Everton during his time in the Premier League, uploaded a post wishing the Australia players luck - but accompanied it with goals scored by himself.
And fans on Instagram have now responded, with one saying: "It's about the matildas not you mate."
A second said: "It's not about you today champ."
A third stated: "How did you make something nothing about you, about you?"
Another supporter weighed by saying: "Here we go, drawing attention to himself. Cause the Maltildas are taking it away from you. You’ve had your time mate, let them shine now."
"This is not about the Male Soccer team. It is about our most successful Soccer team, the Matildas," opined a fifth.
And a sixth ranted: "Nah mate you’ve had your time, this isn’t about you! CARN THE TILLIES!"
Cahill hasn't responded to any of the comments, with the 43-year-old opting against engaging in war of words.
He has, however, shared another post which read: Calm before the storm @matildas."
The match between England and Australia has the makings of a classic with a place in the final of the competition on the line.
And Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson has ramped up the mind games by saying England are the favourites to win.
"If you look at rankings they're favourites, if you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs in top leagues all over the world," he said.
"Not just the starting 11, down to 15, 16. We have bench players in those teams. We have players playing in mid-table teams in Sweden.
"So if you look at all that and you look at resources, financially, obviously they are massive favourites going into this game.
"But the one thing that we have that they don't have is the support and belief from the fans," he continued.
"That in itself is going to be massive tomorrow."
"If you look at rankings they're favourites, if you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs in top leagues all over the world," he said.
"Not just the starting 11, down to 15, 16. We have bench players in those teams. We have players playing in mid-table teams in Sweden.
"So if you look at all that and you look at resources, financially, obviously they are massive favourites going into this game.
"But the one thing that we have that they don't have is the support and belief from the fans," he continued.
"That in itself is going to be massive tomorrow."
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"We hope we can have the ball a lot and keep the ball a lot, that prevents all those moments too."