Cam Burgess playing for Ipswich Town in August.Credit: Getty
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Burgess returned to the UK in 2011 to join Fulham’s academy and then signed a professional contract, before being loaned out to Ross County (where he met Jackson Irvine), among other clubs.
He finally landed at Ipswich in 2021 and has since thrived playing out from the back under manager Kieran McKenna, who has overseen unlikely promotion to the English Championship with a slick, attacking style.
“When he came in, the way he set about things from day one was pretty impressive,” Burgess said. “Everyone knew he was going to be a serious manager, and the proof’s in the pudding. What he’s done for us individually, as a team and as a club, has been pretty impressive.”
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Burgess, who stands at 1.94m, has been playing his club football with 43-time Socceroo Massimo Luongo, and now enters Arnold’s camp alongside another big Scottish centre-back in the 1.98m Souttar with the hope of making his full senior international debut.
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“I never really gave up hope, it’s just a case of keep your head down and work hard,” he said.
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The Socceroos will have their work cut out for them at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, not just because they are playing world No.12 Mexico, but also because they are doing so on a smaller pitch than they would normally be accustomed to.
AT&T Stadium’s synthetic pitch is 4.5 metres shorter and six metres narrower than FIFA’s regulations of 105x68m, meaning significantly less space for the players.
The 80,000-capacity venue just outside of Dallas will host matches at the 2026 World Cup and will have to have its pitch expanded to fit FIFA’s dimensions, according to reports out of the US.