He may be a new face in the Subway Socceroos camp, but Cameron Burgess is settling in nicely among old friends ahead of the Mexico game on Sunday.
Burgess is the latest to join up as part of Australia's strong Scottish contingent in their ranks.
He explained several of the team are either of Scottish descent or have played for Scottish Premiership outfit Ross County.
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Burgess migrated with his family to Perth when he was 11 and spent five years in the Western Australia capital before returning overseas to pursue a career in football when he signed with Fulham's academy in 2011.
But he still has links in Australia, as the rest of his family has been living there for nearly two decades.
Your first l👀k at our new camp call ups in the 🇦🇺 kit for the first time 📸💚💛
🇲🇽 v 🇦🇺 10.9.23 - 12:00pm AEST
📱💻📺 Live on Channel 10, 10 Play#MEXvAUS #Socceroos pic.twitter.com/Qz9to0d61x— Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) September 6, 2023
Burgess has played plenty of football in both the United Kingdom and Australia, crossing paths with many in the current Socceroos squad.
The defender, who currently plies his trade in the Championship with Ipswich Town, has been soaking up his first venture into senior international football while reminiscing on good memories with his Australian teammates in other places.
“I’ve come across a lot of the boys that are here who are a similar age to me,” he said.
“It was a good first day catching up with those guys that I hadn’t seen for years.”
He also incidentally lined up against Harry Souttar’s older brother, John, in the youth Scotland set-up.
While playing football in Perth, he shared the pitch with another new addition to the squad, Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
The two played together at the now Perth RedStar FC during their youth careers while also going head-to-head over the years in the English leagues.
That is not where it ends, though.
The centre-back played with Jackson Irvine at Ross County as well as Aiden O’Neill and Tom Glover in the Australia youth teams.
He said he is looking forward to getting started with his old, and new, teammates at his first Socceroos' camp.
“It’s good to see them doing really well, and a lot of them have got some pretty good moves since I last saw them, so it was good to catch up with those guys,” Burgess said.
“Nothing’s changed. They’re still the same guys. Really humble, and it’s great to see them again.”
Socceroos’ fans could get their first look at the 27-year-old defender on Sunday when Australia take on the highly-ranked Mexico at AT&T Stadium.
International Friendly
Mexico vs Australia
Date: Sunday, 10 September 2023
Venue: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Time: 12:00pm AEST, (9:00pm Saturday, 9 September local time)
Broadcast: Live on Network 10, 10 Play and Paramount+
