Soccer: Paston seizes opportunity to shine at the back

All Whites goal keeper Mark Paston made two great saves in Manama. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A few months out from the biggest game of his life Mark Paston was not happy.

He felt he was not in peak form.

He knew he needed to be at his best as he was a certainty to play the World Cup Asia/Oceania playoffs against a then yet-to-be-determined opponent.

He sat down with Wellington Phoenix goalkeeping coach Jonathan Gould - Paston rates him as the best he has worked with - and between them they tweaked his training.

Paston went away to work harder than he ever had.

"They were not huge changes but he changed what I was doing and I worked hard," said Paston.

"I wanted to be the best I can."

The rewards were there when he made two great saves to keep a clean sheet in the first-leg playoff in Manama, Bahrain.

And he will need to be at his best again when the All Whites and Bahrain run out at Westpac Stadium tomorrow night.

Many say Paston, 32, is only getting his chance because Glen Moss was left cooling his heels as he serves what is seen as a harsh four-match Fifa-imposed suspension.

When Moss was shown a red card by Vanuatu referee Lencie Fred - and subsequently handed the ridiculous ban - for his protest after James Pritchett had been crudely hacked down in the dead tie against Fiji in November last year, Paston became the obvious goalkeeping replacement.

"I did not really think about that [becoming No1] at the time," said Paston.

"The World Cup games seemed a long way off. But, I certainly don't consider myself as being No1. It is how it is. Glen Moss is not here now. All that matters is who is between the sticks at the time. It has been hard at times but that certainly has not stopped me trying to do the best I can.

"As a professional footballer you are paid to do a job. It is hard when you train as hard as you can but then go weeks or even months without playing."

At the Phoenix last season Paston missed the first five games, but came in for the next nine before he was forced out by injury handing the opportunity back to Moss.

"It was a friendly rivalry - we get on fine. I don't feel I am competing against Glen," said Paston. "It is more a case of competing against myself. I had to accept that I was not going to get back in when he was playing so well."

The situation was much the same in South Africa earlier this year when Moss played all three matches at the Confederations Cup and Paston was left on the sideline.

"I don't want things handed to me on a plate. You always pick the best team and Ricki Herbert thought Glen was the best at that time. There were no complaints from me. If I was in that situation I would want to be playing."

Paston has enjoyed his globetrotting days. Initially playing as a centre-back - good enough to turn out as a kid for Hawkes Bay at age-group level - he switched to goalkeeper juggling his football with horse riding.

"My mum is into horses so I did a bit of cross-country and shows," said Paston. "Football took over. Pony club was too much like hard work.

Paston spent four years at university in Wellington graduating with a degree in computer science before heading off, in 2002, for a year in London on his OE.

"I didn't play any football. I felt I needed a break after 10 years."

He has now played 19 full internationals, but none more important than what he faces tomorrow tonight.

"It will be a massive occasion. I generally find I stay pretty calm and composed."

Even, as he found in Manama in the first leg of this tie, the noise of the crowd can make life difficult. "I'm pretty vocal, but up there the players 10 yards in front of me couldn't hear me."

MARK PASTON
DOB: December 13 1976, Hastings
Clubs: Napier City Rovers, Bradford City, Walsall, St Johnstone, NZ Knights, Wellington Phoenix
Height: 1.95m
Weight: 95kg
International caps: 19
Debut: v Indonesia 1997