Blues centre-half Cameron Burgess says fellow Australian Massimo Luongo fully deserves his recall to the Socceroos squad.
Burgess and Luongo are set to join up with their international squad ahead of friendlies against England at Wembley on Friday 13th October, then New Zealand at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium four days later.
Luongo is in the party after a four-year absence, the result of the 31-year-old’s excellent form since he joined the Blues in January, the pair having met manager Graham Arnold at the team hotel prior to the match at QPR in August.
"His return is really well deserved - he’s delighted and can’t wait to get into camp,” Burgess, who won his first full Socceroos cap last month, told FTBL.
"I’m buzzing for him and when he called me to let me know I had a massive smile on my face.
"He’s been one of our most consistent players ever since he arrived in January and really added something to the team.
"I think age was maybe a little bit in his thinking in terms of getting a recall but when we met up with Graham Arnold the first thing he said was that Mass’s experience would be vital if he got back into the squad.
"Mass is super fit and players these days play for much longer than maybe they did previously.
"At 31 he’s probably playing some of the best football of his career. I don’t think age is a significant factor in this at all for him.
"Playing behind him I see he has a lot of strings to his bow and is capable of playing different roles and making his presence count whenever he steps onto the pitch.
"He’s a huge part of why the team’s doing so well at the moment. He can pop up on all sorts of places, depending on what’s happening in each game and what’s required in different situations. He’s in a good place at the moment and I’m delighted for him.”
Regarding his debut, a 2-2 draw with Mexico in the US, he added: "It was a really special moment for me personally. We were actually disappointed not to come away with a win [having led 2-0] and I think the fact that we weren’t happy tells you how far we’ve come as a team and the culture we’ve built.
"I feel lucky to now be a part things and the prospect of playing at Wembley now is going to be a pretty special occasion for all of us.”