Arnold nets another Scot as Burgess wins Socceroos call

George Clarke | September 1, 2023

Australia look set to win another international tug of war, with towering Scottish-born defender Cameron Burgess in line to win his first senior cap for the Socceroos.

The 27-year-old is expected to be named in Graham Arnold’s squad on Friday for their September 10 friendly against Mexico in Dallas.

Burgess plies his trade for high-flying Championship club Ipswich Town, with whom he won promotion to England’s second tier earlier this year.

Arnold watched Burgess and his Ipswich teammate Massimo Luongo defeat QPR last month as part of a lengthy scouting mission in the UK.

It is the latest eligibility win for Arnold, who has tempted Harry Souttar, Jason Cummings and Martin Boyle to switch their allegiance from Scotland to Australia.

Arnold has also been able to convince Portsmouth whiz Alex Robertson, on loan from Manchester City, and Parma defender Alessandro Circati to commit to the Socceroos over the last six months.

Born in Aberdeen before spending his formative years in WA, Burgess won youth caps for Australia and Scotland.

He last played for Australia’s under-23s team in 2016 and will come into calculations for the one-off friendly in Texas.

Burgess’s addition to the Socceroos squad comes at an important time given Arnold’s defensive concerns with January’s Asian Cup on the horizon.

Souttar has not featured for Leicester City since they were relegated from the English top flight at the end of last season.

Gianni Stensness is still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, while emerging left-back Jordan Bos has been ruled out of the Mexico clash after having his appendix removed.