Australian football legend heaps praise on Cammy Devlin after Socceroos training session

Australian football legend Tim Cahill has praised the “passion and commitment” of Hearts star Cammy Devlin after meeting the midfielder for the first time ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

The former Everton hero officially joined Graham Arnold’s squad as head of delegation at the Aspire Academy in Doha. His presence should spark inspiration among the cap after a playing career which saw him capped 108 times by his country, scoring 50 goals.

Known for his aerial ability despite standing under 6ft tall, he played at four successive World Cups from 2006 to 2018, netting five times – a record for his country.

After meeting the squad and receiving praise from Devlin in an Instagram video, he shared he clip to his stories along with a message for the Tynecastle favourite.

Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin was praised by Australian football legend Tim Cahill. Picture: SNS

"Pleasure to work with @cammydevlin, your passion and commitment is first class and pleasure to work with you. This is just the beginning.”

Devlin, who grew up idolising Cahill, told the Aussie media team out in the Middle East what it was like to learn from one of his heroes.

"I think someone like me to pick his brain and have that opportunity to have him here and ask him questions, and if I can make myself a better player by listening to him, I'll take every opportunity to do that,” said Devlin.

“The first time I met him was yesterday and I was straight up to him to ask him a few questions about what he thinks, and he joined in training yesterday so that was pretty cool to be up alongside him with the boots on.

“A legend for Australian sports so just to be in and around him is super surreal.”

Devlin became a viral hit after he was recorded speaking to Arnold on the phone as the Australian national team head coach called the 24-year-old and asked if he wanted to join the squad in Qatar, despite only receiving his first cap in a friendly against New Zealand earlier this year.

The Gorgie Road star became audibly emotional as he learned his dream of representing his country at a World Cup finals was going to come true.

“It was a very nerve-wracking and stressful few weeks building up to the date when we knew we were going to find out, or in and around it. And trying to play for Hearts, but play as well as I can obviously to give myself the best chance to be up for selection.”

“I think I replied [to Graham Arnold] within five seconds and that 15 minutes felt like it went on for days, but when he told me it was just probably the best feeling I've had in my whole life to be honest.

“As you could all hear, not that I knew [the recording] was happening but as you could all hear the emotions came running out and yeah, I think it's pretty fair enough when you get called up for a World Cup, it’s a dream I've had since I first started playing.”

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this article. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.