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Socceroos defender Cam Burgess just helped Ipswich Town beat Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur and is now ready to face Saudi Arabia.
Mere days after helping Ipswich Town bring Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur undone, Cam Burgess is ready to stand up when the Socceroos need him.
Towering central defender Burgess, 29, is the only member of the current Socceroos squad playing regularly in the Premier League.
After he was overlooked early in the season by Ipswich Town, who he helped secure promotion to the top flight last year, Burgess has started the Tractor Boys' past four games.
That included playing the whole game in Sunday's 2-1 comeback win over Postecoglou's charges at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, delivering Ipswich's first win in England's top flight since April 2002.
"It's up there. These are the little things you dream of when you're a kid, to want to play in the Premier League, and then to win your first game in it," Burgess said.
"It's pretty special and maybe a moment for reflection at some point down the line.
"It's special for the club, special for the fans, and you can really see the difference it makes in people's lives in the Ipswich area. It's special to be able to do that."
While the result piled pressure on Postecoglou's Spurs, the former Socceroos boss caught up with Burgess, who had met him previously when he was a youth international.
"He would've been disappointed with the result from his perspective, but I got the chance to speak to him a little bit after the game," Burgess said.
"He just obviously had a message of congratulations and to keep working hard, just a nice message. So it was good to come across him."
Burgess hopes Ipswich teammate Massimo Luongo, who backflipped on his international retirement and was called up last window but then had to withdraw with an ankle injury, will join him on Socceroos duty again soon.
Luongo returned for Ipswich in stoppage time of Sunday's match.
"I was desperate for him to come back so I was badgering him to come out of retirement," Burgess said.
"It's good to have him back involved for selection."
But first, a confident Burgess has his sights set on shutting out the Saudis at AAMI Park on Thursday night and putting direct World Cup qualification firmly within Australia's reach.
The towering centre-back is relishing playing a crucial role at club level, and in Tony Popovic's back three.
"That's football. That's how it works. You just have to sort of deal with peaks and troughs at times," he said.
"To be able to play games at this level, both at club and for the national team, is special and I don't take it for granted."