Osieck's changing of guard Socceroos coach Holger Osieck and Tim Cahill during a training session on Monday. Though Holger Osieck reckons he's finally picked his starting side to face Oman in Tuesday night's World Cup qualifier at ANZ Stadium, the Socceroos coach says it's brought him no end of sleepless nights trying to get it right. Australia is missing stalwarts such as Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton, Josh Kennedy and Sasa Ognenovski, and getting the mix right hasn't been simple for Osieck, who looks set to choose the most youthful side for a competitive match in years. While the availability of Mark Schwarzer, Mark Bresciano and Tim Cahill ensures there's no shortage of veterans on offer, the changing of the guard appears to be slowly but surely taking place. Though the likes of Tommy Oar, Robbie Kruse, Mark Milligan, James Holland, Mile Jedinak and Robbie Cornthwaite are hardly considered youngsters any more - some are in their late 20s - they mark the kind of players who could form the core of the next two World Cup campaigns. Much will be learnt about Osieck's mindset about the decision he makes on a defensive midfield partner for Jedinak. Though Bresciano offers a touch of class, the coach is a huge fan of Holland, who has experienced a breakout year for Austria Vienna and appears the slight favourite to get the start over his more illustrious teammate. "I'm now in a position that I have to admit I really haven't been in before in that I will really have some headaches but positive ones," Osieck said at the team's hotel in Sydney on Monday. There is a great deal on offer now in terms of players. There's decent quality and players that have made tremendous progress in the last couple of months. In recent games, at times I have had the problem to really find a good number of players ready for selection, but this time the quantity is there and within that quantity I have a lot more quality. The Socceroos have had an extended training camp in Sydney which has focused purely on preparation for this match and Schwarzer believes it's been an "invaluable" period. "The last qualification game we had against Iraq in Qatar showed how important having that lead-up time together as a group really is," he said. It gives us an opportunity to sit down and discuss the different aspects of the game and spend quality time together. Oman coach Paul Le Guen was happy to claim the underdog tag for the game but noted his side had been well briefed on how to nullify Cahill. "I know he is good in the air and he likes fighting," Le Guen said. I have shown [my players] video, but I don't know if that will be enough.