Kiwi keeper out for World Cup glory

BY DUNCAN JOHNSTONE

REST easy New Zealand – if the All Whites World Cup hopes come down to a penalty shootout in Wellington on Saturday night it certainly won't faze the man charged with stopping the Bahrain shots.

In fact, Mark Paston would quietly relish it. The player who has arguably more pressure resting on his shoulders than any All White is one cool character.

Don't forget, the away goal rule that would double the value of any Bahrain goal in normal or extra-time means a clean sheet is imperative for Paston.

Then there's the possibility of being the loneliest man in the country as he stands in front of the net at the Cake Tin, trying to defy Bahrain players firing the ball past him from just 11 metres.

But it's also a chance to be a definitive character in New Zealand football history – a central figure in helping send the All Whites through to just their second World Cup finals appearance following the heroics of the 1982 side in Spain.

Paston, a reserved 32-year-old, isn't the sort of guy to shout: "Bring it on!"

But he means just as much when he says: "In all honesty, I quite like a penalty shootout. I seem to enjoy the whole pressure situation.

"If we get to that – great."

At 1.95m and with a big wingspan, he has the physical attributes for the job. But it's the mind games that Paston enjoys in that one-on-one situation which is clearly a game of guessing and gamesmanship

"Sometimes you get a feeling of where they might go. Sometimes that's wrong. There's obviously a huge amount of luck involved.

"But it's also a pressure situation and it's about trying to apply a little bit more pressure to the other guy by taking a little bit longer than you should setting up.

"It's an interesting scenario for both the penalty-taker and the goalkeeper."

And Paston is an interesting case himself.

He defies the belief that goal-keepers need to be eccentric characters, kamikaze by nature and actions. Don't think the betting scandals of Bruce Grobbelaar, drug-bingeing Mark Bosnich, wandering Colombian Rene Higuita or even one of Paston's All Whites predecessors, the alcohol-troubled Michael Utting.

Lean more towards Paston's hero, Manchester United's legendary Danish keeper Peter Schmeichel, when looking for the sort of solid personality that the Hastings-born guardian brings to the New Zealand team.

Paston has been married three years to wife Amie and they had their first child, Jack, 10 weeks ago. After injury frustrated his initial hopes of playing in Britain, he did a year's OE and took four years to complete a Computer Science degree in Wellington. He only became a full-time pro at the age of 26 but still finds time away from his football duties with the Phoenix to get work experience at Datacom in the capital.

"They have been great, letting me come in when I can and learn what life is like in the real world.

"I think it's important to have a life away from football. You're not going to be kicking a ball around forever. You need something else to do, things to help balance your life out a bit more.

"My baby son certainly does that too.

It was Paston's physical attributes that saw his coach at the Hawke's Bay rep team persuade the beanpole teenager to lend his hand at guarding the onion bag.

He's never looked back, developing into an imposing figure in goal – although it's been a rocky road to the top. He's been in and out of the All Whites since 1997. He had stints with Bradford City, Walsall and St Johnstone in Britain before a frustrating shoulder injury saw him return home to start an intense rivalry with Glen Moss at club and international level.

When Paston was knocked unconscious in the Phoenix's final training session before their debut appearance in the A-League, Moss took control and limited Paston's chances.

Moss has since moved to Melbourne and Paston is now a fixture in the Phoenix goal, although he had to wait for Moss to suffer a four-game World Cup ban for verbally abusing a referee to regain the No 1 shirt with the All Whites.

Paston has relished that chance and now, almost unbelievably, the game's biggest stage beckons.

He was a star in the scoreless draw in the first leg of the Asia-Oceania qualifier in Bahrain and needs to produce something similar in Wellington next weekend to send the All Whites to the World Cup in South Africa next year.

He's philosophical about his career and his tussles with Moss.

"That was obviously difficult for me," Paston said.

"No one likes to be sitting on the bench. But I've got my chances now and I feel I'm playing well at the moment. It's just a matter of continuing that form on.

"There are a lot of dark times when you wonder why you're playing this game. It's tough as a keeper, it's not like they chuck you on for the last 10 minutes.

"It is hard to dislodge a goal-keeper that is playing well. They need to get injured or have a run of a few games when they play badly.

"It's part of being a goal-keeper, it's hard at times. But the good times make up for that and they don't come much bigger or better than what's in front of us now."

With former New Zealand goalkeeper Clint Gosling helping him with the All Whites and former Celtic and Scotland keeper Johnathan Gould his specialist coach at the Phoenix, Paston reckons he's in good hands.

"It's a tough position because you need all the credentials – you need to be good with your feet, good with your hands and be able to communicate. I think it's one of the hardest [jobs] on the pitch and the mistakes you make tend to be costly.

"It can be lonely but that's when your personality comes in. Every goal-keeper makes mistakes and it's the way you handle those mistakes that is important. Some people can deal with that, some people can't."

Paston hopes he doesn't have to deal with any mistakes on Saturday.

- © Fairfax NZ News