The goal that’s got people talking: This Socceroos team represents the world

San Francisco: Before anyone idolised Nestory Irankunda, Nestory Irankunda idolised Awer Mabil. And so did Mohamed Toure and Tete Yengi, and everyone else in Adelaide’s tight-knit African community with even a passing interest in football.

“There’s something in Adelaide, as you can see,” Mabil says, referring to the talent pipeline that has flooded through Adelaide United into the Socceroos in recent years. He started it.

By lighting up the A-League, earning a move overseas and cracking the national team, he became the example that Irankunda, Toure and Yengi all wanted to follow.

And now, as he looks around their World Cup squad, he can see his legacy manifest.

Mabil, 30, is just about ready to pass them the torch. A bolter who hadn’t been involved with the national team in a year and a half until his call-up in March, he is realistic about his position in coach Tony Popovic’s pecking order: it’s behind the kids he once inspired.

His job now, he says, is to be a “big brother” to them, let them do their thing, tell them to pull their heads in when necessary – and to be ready, if and when Popovic decides he needs him.

Irankunda’s goal was an experience he will never forget. Mabil was an unused substitute in the Socceroos’ 2-0 win over Turkey, but was part of the mob of bodies that assembled at the corner flag after his Tim Cahill tribute celebration.

“We’re all very happy for Nestor and also Connor [Metcalfe, the other goalscorer]. We’re very happy for everybody, because it takes a whole team, and we’re very proud of how Nestor did what he did. And at the same time, we need to allow him to be himself – because I think when he’s himself, that’s when he can produce his magic.

“He handled it very well, in my opinion. It’s not gone to his head. This is a great moment for him, for his family, for Australian football. The moment is big. We all know the moment is big – and we keep telling him there’s bigger moments coming for you, so just keep the same thing up.”

The goal has also started conversations back home. At a time when migration and multiculturalism are hot-button topics, Irankunda’s refugee background has become a national talking point; this week just happens to be Refugee Week in Australia, too, which Mabil noted was a happy coincidence.

Players are acutely aware of the political environment they are operating within as it relates to those topics. That is why they released a video before the World Cup, in which they speak of their pride in the team’s diverse backgrounds, which surged in views after the Socceroos’ World Cup opener. Mabil fron