De Vere said playing alongside the former Glasgow Rangers defender has helped him take his game to another level as he celebrated making the cut for the Young Socceroos.

"Craig's been influential for Australia, obviously, and I couldn't ask for a better person to play alongside.

"The experience you get from him you can't buy. He's taught me a lot over the last year in general play. It's been invaluable to me," De Vere said today. 

Speaking at the announcement of the 21-man Young Socceroo squad for the tournament in Egypt, where the Aussies have drawn Brazil, Costa Rica and Czech Republic, the Roar youngster added he felt confident the side could qualify from the group stage.

"When you go to a tournament, especially a World Cup, you go there to win rather than just make up the numbers."

Young Socceroo coach coach Jan Versleijen said the tournament is about opportunities to be taken.
"It's a great opportunity for these players to make the next step in their career. I'm sure the World Cup will add a lot to their experience. Hopefully that kind of experience will bring them onto a higher level.

"But our aim is to win the tournament. If we are doing well, maybe some players will not get one second of playing time."

Versleijen added that Oliver Bozanic would've been in the squad but for a medial ligament injury. It's expected he will return to playing in early October.

Versleijen will choose his captain after the games in Cyprus.

After missing the Young Socceroos' latest tour to South America with a quadriceps strain, De Vere's Brisbane teammate Tommy Oar said he was excited to rejoin the squad which will be tested against the best young players on the planet.

"Everyone dreams of going to the World Cup so I'm just looking forward to it," the 17-year-old said.

"I thought I trained pretty well at the previous tours so I wasn't really getting my hopes up about it but I was fairly optimistic about getting in the squad."

The nimble left winger said after reaching the semi-final of last year's U-19 Asian Cup, he was hopeful of a successful run on the world stage.

 "We've got a pretty good squad I think," he said. "There's a lot of depth and we're optimistic about how we can go.

 "We've just got to try to get to the next phase if possible, past the group stage and see where that takes us."

Roar's Mitch Nichols was also  named in the 21-man squad with Isaka Cernak and Roar Youth midfielder Luke Brattan selected on standby for the squad.