South Sudanese footballers kick off celebrations for their homeland's fourth birthday

A friendly football match  has been held in the suburb of South Guildford showcasing some of the city's finest Sudanese players.

The local South Sudanese Independence Cup has been running since 2011 - the same year South Sudan became an independent state.

Garang Awac, 20, is playing striker for team, Aweil United and said he has loved playing football since he was a boy.

Mr Awac and his family lived in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum and said they didn't have enough money for a football, so he and his friends had to make their own.

"We got like pair of socks, and I would join them all together, there used to be ten of us, I asked each of us to bring down two pair of socks and just join them all together. That was the football that we had then." said told SBS World News.

At the time Sudan was in the middle of a two-decade-long civil war and religious and ethnic tensions were high.

Unlike the predominantly Muslim population of Sudan to the north, the South Sudanese follow traditional religions, or Christianity.

Mr Awac and his family fled to Egypt, then moved to Australia in 2005, where he said football helped him make friends and learn English when he arrived. "That's basically how I introduced myself in this country. When I first came I didn't know how to speak english, but me playing football, got everyone around me to kinda want to be my friend you know, back in primary school." said Mr Awac.

He's now playing in the New South Wales premier league for the Mount Druitt Rangers.

"My idols would be like the African players, players like didier drogba, adebayor and that they grew up in a small community and then to be able to go out there and live their dreams that inspires me, yeah." said Mr Awac.

Denis Ochaya, 17, says events like this one help to unite the community. "It's a great moment to be honest, like you don't get this opportunity much, to meet people from other places in African. This tournament brought people together." he said.

Abraham Ajok, from the South Sudanese Football Association, says the independence day is important because it's intrinsic to their identity.

Mr Ajok is one of Sudan's so-called, '"Lost boys'.

During the country's second civil war, hundreds of thousands of children were seperated from their families, displaced or orphaned and rebels began inducting child soldiers into their ranks.

A group of roughly 20-thousand children, mostly boys as young as 7, fled their homeland in search of safety in what turned out to be a treacherous 1600 kilometre journey to Ethiopia.

Mr Ajok says its important to remind the community, especially the younger generation about where they are from.

"The story has been passed from generation to generation, by word of mouth, and as you know we have a connection to home. So, people always ask where is our homeland, so you often have to tell the children where they are from. We as South Sudanese whether we're in diaspora or back home we need to stand united and celebrated this important day." said Mr Ajok.

Unrest continues in South Sudan and just three years after independence, the young state was plunged into another crisis. 

A power struggle within the government began, and fighting between government troops and rebel factions erupted leaving millions are in need of aid.

Mr Ajok says the community thinks of the conflict in their homeland everyday.

"Indeed its still in mind of young people and those who are elderly in the community. That importantly that will never go unnoticed," he said.

For the community, the young men taking part in the Independence Cup represent hope and the future.

They even help inspire many in the community still recovering from the past.