Auckland FC's Francis de Vries. Photo: Photosport
Defender Francis de Vries spent years battling in football's lower leagues and it was not long ago that he wondered if his professional playing days were numbered let alone if he would play for the All Whites again.
De Vries last took the field for the All Whites against Oman in June 2022 when he played a full game at centre back.
Since then he has rehabbed a major injury, moved countries, started a coaching business, spent more than a year playing amateur football for Eastern Suburbs and signed a professional contract with Auckland's leading A-League side.
A return to the professional playing ranks last month has coincided with a recall to the All Whites for two Football World Cup qualifiers against Vanuatu and Samoa this month.
When de Vries got his first cap for the All Whites against Gambia in November 2021 as a 26-year-old he had just helped his Swedish club IFK Varnamo rise from the third-tier to the top-flight.
But his footballing high point would quickly be followed by a low point that changed the trajectory of his professional career.
"I'd been semi-professional [in Sweden] for a while and working and everything and then we get promoted, we get promoted again and you play professional everything is in front of you, first call-up for the All Whites, almost made a world cup and then two weeks after that came back to team training and did my ACL with six months left on my contract and that's a terrible time to get that serious of an injury."
That was the end of de Vries' playing days in Sweden. Rather than chasing another overseas professional contract he faced nine months of rehabilitating the second major injury of his career.
The first time he had lost a professional contract was in his first year with Vancouver in the MLS when he had injured his other knee half way through the season.
Knowing what to expect after the injury in Sweden he packed up and headed back to New Zealand with his partner Lisa to focus on starting a chapter in their lives.
"It was very hard to give up the football side of it because that's what you've worked for for five plus years to get to that level but I decided it was more important to start a new life together and she'd sacrificed a lot of her goals in Sweden."
Francis De Vries playing amateur football for Eastern Suburbs. Photo: Supplied
Back home he got a job in coaching and played football in the national league and slipped out of contention for the All Whites.
"It was a year and a half of self-directed motivation, no one is really pushing you to do anything at the amateur level."
De Vries viewed football differently when he was back at Madills Farm.
"When I was overseas I was always about my personal goals I'd set them follow the process and achieve them.
"When I came back I had achieved almost all of my goals, playing professional overseas, playing for New Zealand, giving a shirt to my dad and all that so when I came back here football broadened for me that's where coaching was so important where I saw the impact that myself and greater team like New Zealand can have on young players.
"I'd say a lot of my motivation now comes from me showing young players that you can deal with adversity that things are never going to be perfect."
However, one person who was pushing de Vries to find his way back to the pros was All Whites coach Darren Bazeley.
Bazeley was clear he could not select de Vries when other New Zealand defenders were performing at a high level overseas.
De Vries said it was "very honest dialogue".
"I've experienced enough to know that there are so many other good players out there, when you're younger you think you're a bit special and then you go to Europe and you realise there's a thousands of you walking around.
"[Bazeley] would call me and say you're doing well in what you're doing but it's not at the level we need ... that was a motivation as well to once this Auckland FC opportunity came up it's been faster than I expected but I'm really thankful for his honest communication and clearly outlining what I needed to do to come back."
Francis de Vries in action during New Zealand All Whites v Oman Photo: Tom Kirkwood
Now that de Vries is back in the squad for the two games to be played in Hamilton and Auckland he realises what he was missing.
"When you come back it does hit home that it has been a long time and I think that makes you even more appreciative of the moments like playing on Friday is going to be pretty much as emotional as the first time I got called up because it's almost like a second beginning."
De Vries, who turns 30 later this month, does not get some of the accolades that his high-flying All Whites team mates do but he recognised that he was on a different path that led to the same international team chasing a world cup place for the first time since 2010.
"Maybe my journey is just a little bit more showing that when adversity happens there is a way back from that within yourself without the structure around you that you can find your own way in football and in life."
