TOWN midfield star Massimo Luongo was the standout performer as Australia won the opening game of the Asian Cup 4-1 against Kuwait.

Luongo scored and made a goal for captain Tim Cahill, picking up the man of the match award, as the Socceroos successfully opened their campaign.

The Socceroos actually fell behind in the eighth minute to Hussain Fadhel's diving header but then Luongo took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Just after the half-hour the former Tottenham man wriggled past two challenges on the right-hand byline and cut back for Australia legend Cahill to fire home.

Before half-time things had got even better for Luongo and his Socceroos as the midfielder rose to head in Ivan Franjic's centre, giving the Aussies the lead.

A second half penalty from Mile Jedinak and a James Troisi made the game safe for the hosts and at the full-time whistle it was Luongo who picked up the plaudits, taking the man of the match award.

After the game Luongo expressed his delight at his performance and getting a goal in his first game on home soil.

He said: "(It was) amazing, it’s a dream come true. It’s my first game in Australia and I couldn’t be more happy (to score).”

"We went a goal down but that showed our Aussie spirit, coming back and everyone was brilliant.”

“Everyone knew there were goals in this game. We knew they were going to sit off us straight after that goal, so we had to be patient. And we knew we could break them down eventually.”

Here is a video of the Town man's decisive goal: