Jacob Italiano knows what it's like to be called a boy wonder.
It's why the Socceroos wing-back is the perfect man to tackle Turkey's own young guns.
Juventus winger Kenan Yildiz and Real Madrid attacker Arda Guler, both 21, are the names on everyone's lips ahead of Saturday's opener (Sunday AEST) at Vancouver's BC Place.
Right wing-back Italiano will almost certainly have Yildiz to take care of, provided the winger is fit after battling a calf injury, and Guler will almost certainly cause some headaches.
"When you're at a World Cup, you want to play against the world's best," Italiano told AAP.
"I'm a big fan of his (Yildiz). I love watching him play. Obviously, at Juve he's doing some special things, still very young as well.
"But when the whistle goes, he's my opponent, and I'm going to do everything to be able to stop him."
When Italiano was at Perth Glory as a teenager, he was often viewed as the next big thing.
A big move to Borussia Monchengladbach followed but he never played a senior game, racking up more than 100 appearances for their reserves.
"It's cut-throat out there," Italiano said.
"Obviously, a few injuries didn't help my case as well - when you feel like you're getting closer, and then there's a big setback and then you're even further away than what you were. That happened three or four times.
"I had a major illness as well, which didn't help. Lots of things didn't really fall my way, but at the same time, I learned a lot about looking after myself and making sure that everything is on point.
"What I'm eating, how I'm sleeping, those sort of things, that's the stuff that you need to pick up on over in Europe, because it's pretty cut-throat.
"If you're not up to standard, they bring in the next guy."
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Not even Italiano expected to be the next guy when Fran Karacic withdrew from last October's camp through injury.
Italiano had been thriving at Austrian club Grazer AK when the call-up came.
Tony Popovic, who Italiano worked under as a youngster at Glory, liked what he saw in training and started him in both games against Canada and the US.
Lewis Miller's Achilles rupture in February turned Italiano into an almost undisputed first choice right wing-back once he returned from a calf injury.
"There was obviously a few ups and downs over the last years, months leading into this, but to finally be here is an unbelievable feeling," he said.
"Now I'm just excited for it to all get started."
