Cahill believes the 2010 World Cup is among the best World Cups ever

The 2010 World Cup was the first World Cup held in

Africa

, where after a month of exciting football,

Spain

was crowned as the world champions following a thrilling final against the

Netherlands

in front of 84,490 fans in

Johannesburg

.

Australia

couldn’t enjoy much of the tournament as they weren’t able to secure qualification from the group round. With four points out of their three matches,

Germany

and

Ghana

were qualified from the group D of the tournament.

"During my playing career, I was lucky enough to represent Australia at four World Cups. Each tournament was special in its own way, but I’ll never forget South Africa in 2010,"

Cahill who serves as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup, recounted in a personal feature looking ahead to the Qatar 2022.

"Football is a truly global sport and as a player it was always inspiring to see the passion of the fans in different parts of the world."

The Aussies adventure in Africa started with a heavy 4-0 defeat against

Germany

, followed by a 1-1 draw with

Ghana

, they went on to beat

Serbia

2-1, while Cahil was on the scoresheet. However, the victory against

Serbia

wasn’t enough to push the Socceroos to the round of 16.

"On the pitch, the tournament didn’t go exactly as we wanted as we didn’t progress past the group stage and I was sent off against Germany in the opening game, but on a personal note I was proud to score a header against Serbia in a 2-1 victory in our last group match,"

said the 41-year-old.

"Off the pitch, the tournament was massively exciting as it was the first World Cup held in Africa and an incredible opportunity to play in a new part of the world.

"Before we went to South Africa in 2010 there was a lot of talk about security and how it was a risk but for me and my family it was one of the best World Cups because of the warmth of the people and the amazing opportunities to enjoy new experiences away from the pitch, such as visiting the safari parks.

"It was an incredible celebration of football and set an important precedent for the future of the competition by hosting it in a new territory."

The former Everton striker,

Tim Cahil

, Scored 50 goals during his 100 appearances for

Australia

.