Versleijen revealed he will give all 21 players at least 90 minutes to prove themselves during the lead up matches, with the Young Socceroos scheduled to play the Czech Republic in their opening U20 World Cup match on 27 September.

The team arrived in sweltering Cyprus two days ago and are set to play Trinidad and Tobago Thursday night (midnight AEST). It is the first of three lead up games, which also include England (September 19) and USA (September 20).

"The three lead up games are important for me to see who's in good shape, because the World Cup is over a short period and you need people who are in shape,'' Versleijen said. "The reason we are playing three friendlies is that we want to see each player for at least 90 minutes.

"Some will play two games, others will play one, but everybody will get a fair chance to show whether they're ready for the World Cup or not.

"There's a few players who I thought would have played a little more in the  Hyundai A-League so far this season, so it's not ideal but this will be a good opportunity to see where they're at.'' 
 

With the squad completing its first full training session yesterday morning in stifling 31 degrees heat, they returned for a second session in late afternoon, with Versleijen keen to ensure the players are in tip-top shape for Egypt.

"It's important to adapt to the weather conditions as quickly as possible and that's the reason we came 10 or 12 days earlier,'' he said.

"The conditions in Cyprus are similar to what they will experience in Egypt so I'm sure we will adapt and fully acclimatise in time.''

The only player missing from the squad is keeper Dean Bouzanis, who's due to play a final game for Liverpool's reserves before joining the squad later in the week. 

Versleijen has added three of the 'next generation' of Young Socceroos to the squad in James Virgili (Newcastle Jets), Trent Sainsbury and Brendan Hamill (both AIS), whose qualifiers for the 2011 FIFA U20 World Cup are just around the corner.

"They are here for the experience and to add numbers to the squad,'' said Versleijen, who will keep the train on players here for a week.