Cole, a regular fixture in the England side for over a decade, became the seventh player to earn 100 caps in Wednesday night's Wembley clash with Brazil.
The 32-year-old may have endured a torrid time during the 2-1 win thanks to the wizardry of Oscar, but Cahill insists Cole deserves a huge amount of credit for the way he has made the left-back position his own since he made his debut against Albania some 12 years ago - and he is in no hurry to see him out of the England reckoning in the future.
"He is an inspiration," Cahill said of Cole, whose place in the team is under threat from Everton's in-form full-back Leighton Baines.
"I have been plugging away for years to get in to the squad and he has got 100 caps now. He has been at the top of his game for 12 years. It's fantastic for him and I hope there will be many more to come for him."
Cahill himself went through a night of mixed emotions at the home of football. The former Bolton man put in two crunching tackles to deny Brazil early in the first half, but his careless dribble just after the break allowed the Selecao to equalise through Fred.
As it happened, the mistake did not ultimately prove costly as Frank Lampard struck soon after to give the Three Lions a 2-1 triumph and their first win over Brazil in 23 years.
But the former Bolton man knows he cannot make too many errors like that in the future.
"That's the nature of my position," Cahill said.
"I thought I played well overall but if you make a mistake like that, it's going to be costly. It was out of character from myself, but I will learn from it and that's great.
"I showed character to bounce back from it and the team showed character to forget about it and carry on.
"Thankfully Frank scored so it didn't spoil the lads' night.
"It did spoil my night slightly though."
Although it was only a friendly, Cahill thinks the victory will give Roy Hodgson's men a big confidence boost ahead of two vital qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro next month.
He added: "It's fantastic. They are a difficult outfit to play against, but I thought we were dangerous, particularly in the second half, and I thought the result was deserved.
"It was important for us with the qualifiers coming up."
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