COACH TRIP ... Cahill wants England to park the bus

THE huge grin on Gary Cahill’s face tells you he is loving every minute of being a European champion.

The glint in his eye proves the Chelsea star is in the mood to do it all over again — this time with England.

And if that means the Three Lions parking the bus, that’s fine by him.

Cahill was at the heart of some brilliant, backs-to-the-wall defending as Roberto Di Matteo’s Blues saw off the might of Bayern Munich and Barcelona to become Kings of the Continent. Now the centre-back says he is ready to put his body on the line again, if that’s what it takes for England to succeed at Euro 2012.

Cahill, 26, insisted: “Winning is what’s on top of everyone’s agenda here. It is whenever you go into a competition like this.

“You look to achieve the best you can — and that means getting to the final. Whether that means going there and playing great football or playing backs-to-the-wall football, I don’t mind because it is all about winning.

“Look at Chelsea’s success against Barca, that wasn’t pretty football but we got the result and that was the main thing.”

He’s right, of course. Who can argue with a 3-2 win over two legs against a side regarded as the best on the planet?

Especially as it earned Chelsea a place in the final where more defensive defiance saw them overcome Bayern to become champions of Europe.

But Cahill is convinced Roy Hodgson’s England side can offer far more than just a solid defensive base — he is expecting plenty of thrills, too.

He added: “If we can play great football with England that would be fantastic. We certainly have real confidence in the squad and the players we have here.

“We have players who play great football every week with their teams in the Premier League. I know because I play against them week in, week out.

“We are definitely going to give it our best shot and, yes, of course we can do it.”

Cahill is raring to go again after a couple of days celebrating Chelsea’s success.

He confessed: “Yes, I had a great time celebrating what is the peak of my career so far, winning the Champions League.

“Then two days after came the realisation that I now go again with a new challenge and one that is just as important, winning the Euros with England.

“To play in the Champions League final, to win that final was the biggest test of my career so far.

“Now this is the first tournament with England, so again I’m challenging myself.”

Cahill is certainly not intimidated by England’s Group D opponents France, Sweden and hosts Ukraine. Again he draws inspirations from Chelsea’s Champions League glory and the knowledge that he has already proved himself against the best Europe can offer.

He explained: “It’s been great experience for me playing in those big games and it will stand me in good stead.

“If there was criticism people could level at me before, it was I hadn’t played in any big games.

“Hopefully I have put that to bed now and I’m looking forward to playing in even more of these huge games now.

“The Champions League was my biggest test so far. But my next big test now comes with England.”

And the man who dreamed of this moment since childhood would not have it any other way.

He added: “Ever since I was a boy there’s never been another job I wanted to do. It’s been crazy but you just have to keep stepping up the goals that you aim for.

“When you are young you just want to play first-team football in front of crowds. Then you want to play in the Premier League, then the next step is to play for one of the top teams and then you want to play for your country.

“Thankfully I have done that — but it doesn’t stop now that I am here.

“I want to win more things for Chelsea, and I want to win things with England.

“You always need to strive to do better and better. And we all have to go to the Euros with that mindset.”