Burgess reflects on seven-year journey to become Socceroo #633

Making his Subway Socceroos debut, defender Cameron Burgess appeared right at home as Australia played out a 2-2 draw with Mexico in front of a hostile crowd at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

The 27-year-old played the full 90 minutes against the world’s No.12-ranked side, starting alongside Harry Souttar in front of 50,000 in Dallas, Texas.

Reflecting on his long-awaited debut, Burgess was immensely proud to represent the Green and Gold for the first time.

“It was a special occasion,” Burgess told socceroos.com.au.

“I’m really proud on a personal note.

“It was good to get out there with the boys and experience such a cool place to play football, in front of a lot of fans for my first time so it was a pretty good experience.”

Burgess had not worn the Green and Gold since playing for the Olyroos in 2016, but that never stopped his pursuit to represent the nation at senior level.

The Perth-raised defender had been on a journey through England's lower leagues before landing at Ipswich Town, where he has gone on to become an integral part of their side as they tackle the English Championship after promotion last season.

Graham Arnold revealed that he hoped to select him for June’s Argentina friendly in China, but Burgess was still recovering from a nasty face injury after a collision while playing for Ipswich.

Despite all of his setbacks and the long time between appearances for Australia, Burgess said he never gave up on his dream to become a Socceroo.

“I always knew I could be involved and be a part of it,” he said.

“It was just a case of doing what I do at club land and else is a bonus.

“Obviously, you can't control what happens in your career all the time so it's just a case of working hard getting the head down and doing all the right things.

“I always thought that I could be a part of it at some point so I never really gave up hope.

“In my head 27 is still young so I’m just proud to be a part of it now. It doesn't matter when it comes, it’s always a special moment.”

Like Souttar and Martin Boyle, Burgess is another player that has ties to Scotland.

Burgess, who moved to Perth with his family when he was 11, played for Scotland’s under-18 and under-19 teams before transferring his allegiance to Australia.

The Aberdeen-born defender then lined up on Socceroos debut next to Souttar and struck up an immediate partnership with him.

“The message from him (Souttar) and most of the other boys was to just do what I have to get here,” Burgess said.

“I’ve been picking up on the little bits and pieces that are needed for me to play alongside these guys.

“Everyone has helped me massively especially Big H, who put in another good performance.”

Next up for the Socceroos is a friendly with England at Wembley on October 13.