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A decade ago Scottish heart surgeon Gerry McCann - whose 4-year-old daughter has been abducted in Portugal during a family holiday - was living in Napier and playing soccer.
He had come to New Zealand to pursue the love of his life, who was working as a doctor in Wellington.
Mr McCann's former clubmates in Napier are stunned by what has happened to his family.
Hopes and prayers for the return of Madeleine McCann are coming from half a world away, as local friends of her father anxiously wait for news of the little girl.
She was snatched from her bed in a Portuguese beach resort 11 days ago while her parents dined close by.
The story has dominated news coverage in Europe as her distraught parents and celebrities such as footballer David Beckham plead for her safe return.
Mr McCann lived in Napier for about a year in 1996, turning out for Napier City Rovers.
The "down-to-Earth, natural, great guy" made several close friends, including Rovers stalwarts Ian Gearey and Jim Scott, who both attended his wedding to Kate eight years ago.
Mr Gearey said he was shocked to learn their daughter had been kidnapped.
"I am absolutely gobsmacked. I was just stunned. I heard it from Jim, who had picked up a Sunday paper and it was there."
The McCanns' romance had flourished after Gerry followed Kate Downunder, Mr Gearey said.
"Kate was working as a doctor in Wellington. He told us he'd come for her, he came to woo her, really.
"He won her heart and, of course they got together here, and not that terribly long after they got married in the UK."
The wedding in Liverpool was lovely and big, said Mr Gearey.
He hadn't spoken to the McCanns for some time but the couple kept in contact with their Hawkes Bay mates, most recently sending a family Christmas card wishing them well.
Mr Gearey said he had tried to contact them since Madeleine's disappearance, to let the family know their Kiwi friends were there for support.
Gerry McCann was a "very, very" talented heart surgeon who was highly regarded while working in Hawkes Bay.
"He is just a very nice guy. Both of them are lovely people."
Now Mr Gearey is wishing for a happy ending for his former clubmate. "They will find her. That's what we are praying for and holding on to."
- NZPA
