In a world of uncertainty, there are two things in Australian football that you can count on. The first is that when somebody uses the word "soccer", they will be ferociously hate-tweeted, scorned and charged with everything from being a stooge of the AFL to supporting One Nation and baiting Craig Foster into writing another blog. The other is that when Holger Osieck releases his latest Socceroos squad, the football community descends into a flurry of furious hand-wringing, followed by a crushing bout of sombre navel-gazing. Won't somebody, anybody, think of the kids?!

This time Holger has listened to the people. Under pressure after the Socceroos embarrassing loss to Brazil, he has gone all William Golding, picking a squad abundant in youth for the matches against France and Canada. In come Jackson Irvine, Oliver Bozanic, Jason Davidson, Mathew Leckie and Nikita Rukavytsya, all of whom ply their trade in European leagues, but only one of whom was born before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Out with the old, in with the new.

The big news, of course, is that children's author and veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has been dropped. That can be viewed in two ways. The first explanation comes from rumours that Schwarzer ate one of Holger's specially imported weisswurst at a team lunch in Rio, and the Socceroos coach holds terrible food grudges. The second, perhaps more plausible explanation is that Schwarzer, as one of the senior members of the squad and after years of loyal and regular service to the national team, doesn't really need to be looked at again in a couple of friendlies which mean very little.

In fact, it has been almost exactly 20 years since Schwarzer first played for the national team. Funnily enough, on his debut in 1993, Schwarzer came off the bench in a World Cup qualifier against Canada, one of the teams the Socceroos will face in October. There is probably something worth pursuing in that for the soccer conspiracists out there, though I'm not sure what.

The World Cup qualifier in Edmonton was a memorable one for Schwarzer, but the return leg in Sydney was even better. With his swaying shoulder-length locks and technicolour Reusch goalkeeper jumper, the 20-year-old Schwarzer performed Christ-like heroics in the Socceroos goal, saving two penalties to put Australia into the next round of qualification matches.

Schwarzer then jetted off to Dinamo Dresden, before carving out a career in the English Premier League. His latest move to Chelsea has been questioned by some, who believe that he needs more regular game time. His debut against Canada must seem a long time ago. These days, his long hair has given way to a spiky new do, the kind that signals impending baldness. At least he's got the McDonald's arches, and not Manifest Destiny.

Brazil 2014 will surely be Schwarzer's final World Cup, who will be 41 by the time the tournament comes around. For the friendlies against France and Canada, Holger Osiek has enlisted the services of young turks Mat Ryan and Mitchell Langerak, two terrific young goalkeepers with designs on Schwarzer's jersey. After a few seasons with the Central Coast Mariners, Ryan is starting regularly for Club Brugge, while Langerak has bided his time at Borussia Dortmund by giving unsuspecting goalposts the Glasgow kiss.

Neither one is quite ready to take over from Schwarzer, who, despite this omission, clearly has the Kim Jong-un on the goalkeeping spot. Nevertheless, Osieck is clearly keen to run the rule over his main contenders. He's even resurrected David Carney's international career, just to make things a little more difficult for Ryan and Langerak. Carney's the one swan-diving over the byline while Nick De Leon waltzes into the box to score.