Young Duke may face Brazilian kings of world game Mitchell Duke was a surprise selection at the East Asian Cup. Central Coast Mariners striker Mitchell Duke's meteoric rise continues apace. At the start of the year he was barely known outside of Gosford. Now he is heading to Brazil with the first-choice Socceroos squad for next month's friendly - and if he continues his development, the frontman must stand a good chance of snaring a surprise spot in Holger Osieck's World Cup squad for the biggest tournament of them all next year. Duke, 22, was something of an unexpected selection for the East Asian Cup last month, but he impressed Osieck no end - to the point that he was one of the few players in the squad who started in all three games in South Korea. Another to have done so, defender Ryan McGowan, is also in the party for the Brazil game. Now Duke gets the chance to show what he has got against the world game's biggest name, although it would be a huge shock if the German coach started him against the Brazilians. Duke is one of four Australian-based players in the party for the game in Brasilia on September 7, although the other three - Melbourne Victory pair Archie Thompson and Mark Milligan, and newly returned Brisbane Roar midfielder Matty McKay - are hardly surprises. Duke aside, there is little about this squad to raise the pulse of most long-time Socceroo watchers as it has the familiar faces that have dominated the national team line-up for more than a decade. Mark Schwarzer and Lucas Neill long ago assumed tribal elder status, while Luke Wilkshire, Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano have been permanent fixtures for an almost equal length of time. However, there are some green shoots of regeneration. Tom Rogic, nowadays of Celtic, James Holland, newly qualified for the Champions League with his club side Austria Vienna, and Dutch-based Tommy Oar, who proved such a crucial addition to the mix in Japan in that torrid World Cup qualifier in Tokyo last June, could be the shape of the Socceroos midfield to come, if not at the World Cup then certainly in the Asian Cup in January 2015, which Australia hosts. Bayer Leverkusen striker Robbie Kruse is another who should be a key man in both Brazil and the Asian Cup, although the ex-Brisbane and Victory striker has been part of Osieck's set-up for more than two years, so he hardly counts as a new boy. There is some stiff competition in the goalkeeping department. While the venerable Schwarzer, now on the bench at Chelsea, remains Osieck's No.1 - and no one can argue he hasn't built up plenty of credits in the bank - the coach has included two of the younger brigade looking to supplant him, Borussia Dortmund's Mitch Langerak and Mat Ryan, once Duke's Mariners teammate, these days of Club Brugge in Belgium.