Reserve ace's World Cup dream

Reserves goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis is hoping to earn a call-up for Australia's pre-World Cup training squad.

The 19-year-old has spent this season getting first-team experience on loan at League Two side Accrington Stanley.

And after featuring for the Socceroos at the U20 World Cup, he is aiming to catch the eye of senior coach Pim Verbeek.

Bouzanis said: "I'm proud to have played for Australia and hopefully I can do it at a higher level for the Olyroos and the Socceroos, and I'm trying everything I can to get into the train-on squad for the upcoming World Cup."

The youngster is certainly on Verbeek's radar.

Socceroo goalkeeping coach Tony Franken explained: "He was signed at 16 by Liverpool and one of the comments at the time coming from Liverpool was that he was the best they've seen for his age.

"He's got an outside chance and we'll obviously be discussing that with the coaching staff in the lead-up to May 9, when the squad is selected. We've obviously got two or three goalkeepers in Australia in contention."

Bouzanis's loan move to Accrington has brought 14 senior appearances.

"You've got to start from somewhere, don't you?" said Bouzanis. "That's why I've wanted to go on loan.

"It's different in the lower leagues because it's a lot more physical and that's tested my high ball game, whereas in the Premier League it is a lot more technical and a lot quicker.

"When I first came down I found the physical side a little bit difficult and that's something I've had to adapt to.

"The first thing the goalkeeper said to me was that it was a good learning curve to see how physical the game is and to play with men."

Despite being away from Anfield, Bouzanis is still modelling his game on Pepe Reina.

"He's one of the leaders in the squad. I rate him as the best goalkeeper in the world and to have him at your club, to be able to watch him play, is good because you want to learn from the best," said Bouzanis.

"The goalkeeping coaches at Liverpool mould you to play like Pepe, his kicking and everything that he does. You've got to train to be like him.

"It's a big part of the learning curve, what they say. They often give us DVDs of our own games that we play.

"The goalkeeping coach pulls me aside and shows me clips and shows me where I should have done better; it might be a small thing but you can still pick up on it. He'll pick up the DVD and compare it to the likes of Pepe, Peter Cech and Iker Casillas."