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The youngest member of Pim Verbeek's preliminary 31-man squad is considered a near certainty to be one of eight players cut when the final squad is named on June 1.

But 18 year old Oar made a massive impact in his only appearance for the Socceroos in March's otherwise dreary Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia in Brisbane.

And he is determined to meet Verbeek's challenge of forcing the Dutchman to pick him in his final squad because of his performances.

"Definitely, I have got nothing to lose," Oar said in Melbourne today as he prepared to go in to the training camp with the rest of the Socceroos.

"I just feel privileged to be part of the squad and I have just got to work hard at training over the next week and try to impress."

The former Brisbane Roar winger - who has been compared in playing style to Harry Kewell - has just recently signed a five-year deal with Dutch club Utrecht.

He admits he can't believe how quickly things had progressed for him given he was a virtual unknown before his starring role in that Indonesia match.

"Every kid dreams of playing in the World Cup so for me to have the opportunity now at only 18 is just fantastic and I never thought this would happen," he said.

Not that Oar is letting the rave reviews from his Socceroos' debut or his recent shock call-up to the preliminary squad go to his head.

"It's always great to read good headlines (about yourself) but at the same time you will always have your critics as well so you have just got to try and balance that out and keep working hard and try to ignore it all," he said.

Oar admits he is unsure if he will see any game time in the Socceroos' farewell friendly against New Zealand at the MCG on Monday night in what shapes as his last chance to impress Verbeek before the final squad is named on June 1.

But even if Oar does miss out on a trip to South Africa, he knows will only emerge a better player in the future and a definite candidate for Australia's squad for the 2011 Asian Cup Finals in Qatar in January.

He added: "I have already learned a lot so far in the short period I have been here and it's just been an invaluable experience and I am really looking forward to rest of it."

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