Blues centre-half Cameron Burgess has been named on the bench as Australia take on Uzbekistan in their final group game at the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar this morning (KO 11.30am).

With the Socceroos already through to the round of 16 following victories over India and Syria in their previous two matches, manager Graham Arnold plans to utilise his squad.

Uzbekistan are second in the group on four points with a draw enough to confirm their place in the next round but they may go through even if defeated.

Burgess was left out of the team which beat the Indians 2-0 before returning to the XI to win his fifth full cap in the 1-0 win against the Syrians and was delighted to make his bow in the competition.

“First game in the Asian Cup, another one ticked off for the Socceroos, which is nice and a special moment for me,” he told the official Football Australia website.

“Good to have my family there to watch the game as well which is which is nice and, yeah, a step in the right direction.”

The 28-year-old won all his aerial duals during the game as the Socceroos kept a six successive clean sheet.

“I think that for the whole team it is something we can be proud of,” he reflected. “I think it’s something that we take pride in and something that we focus on, it's a big message for us and something we really think is a big strength. It’s tournament football, good to get a clean sheet and good to get another win.

“You've just got to find a way to win the game, it's not always going to be easy, especially when the team's set up like that.

“It means sometimes you can't score four and five goals; you have to just stick with it, and I think we've shown that as a team. In both games so far, we just stay calm and stick to the process.”

Turning to Uzbekistan he added: “We’ll have a look at them and what their strengths are and what they'll try and do.

“Both teams are looking to get top spot so should be an exciting game and hopefully we can go and take all three points.”

“We're here to win every game we're not here to take it easy in any games so we're going to go into that one with full confidence and hopefully go and take three points, top the group and take the confidence into the next few games.”

Burgess says he’s thoroughly enjoying being with the Socceroos squad: “I love being around these boys, it's a great group to be involved in.

“The boys are always up to something, there's always stuff going on around camp and it's a good place to be.”

Photo: Reuters

ArnieM added 11:05 - Jan 23 Whilst these international competitions are great gif the player, it does go against the grain that we lose him at the most crucial time in the season. Town is his employer, not Australian FA . Hurry back to Town Cam, we need you here!
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Tractorboy58 added 13:51 - Jan 23 I actually think he will struggle to get his place in the team back as Edmundson is doing really well - and much more mobile than Burgess
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ronnyd added 14:17 - Jan 23 How can anyone support the Aussies when they play in that kit?
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ArnieM added 15:09 - Jan 23 lol
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PhuketPete added 16:32 - Jan 23 What a poor tournament this is. Mostly rubbish teams.. 32 qualifiers is a joke. Many would struggle to compete against a tier 5/6 English side. But despite this Cam has zero involvement in two of three games. That’s his match fitness going out the door. Meantime Fridge looks the real deal and Luke has upped his game and Axel (and Elkan) are waiting for their big chances.

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Linkboy13 added 18:41 - Jan 23 I think Burgess is a decent defender but has zero ball skills and is light years away from Edmundson in terms of technical ability and athleticism.
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