Nine years ago, Thomas Deng and Awer Mabil began to bond over football in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.

They were two South Sudanese refugees who attended the same school, played for the same local club and their families were linked together through their community.

On Tuesday morning, Deng and Mabil made their international debuts for Australia together. The two youngsters came on as second-half substitutes in the Socceroos' 4-0 rout of Kuwait and a dream moment for the pair became all the more remarkable when Deng played a crucial role in setting-up Mabil to score with a well-taken finish.

Melbourne Victory defender Deng won possession to spark a counter-attack that fell to Mabil inside the box and, despite his inexperience at international level, the 23-year-old winger calmly slotted Australia’s fourth and final goal. According to Deng, he had predicted just as much.