If you ask Mark Paston he'll stick to his guns, unequivocally tell you there was no one single juncture that he would pick out in his professional soccer career as a defining moment.
But for the Hawke's Bay-born All Whites goalkeeper's parents, Christine and John Paston, one occasion sticks out like a sore thumb to them in their son's international career which spanned almost two decades and left the country salivating for more in the beautiful game.
"THAT penalty save," Christine said last night from their Napier home after their 36-year-old son announced his retirement from international soccer. "The game really depended on it. If Mark hadn't saved it we wouldn't have gone to the World Cup."
Retired harbour master John, 75, sitting not far from Christine talking on the phone, nodded in agreement of their son who lives in Wellington with wife Amie and their three sons Jack, who turns 4 later this month, Benjamin, 2, and Charlie who is almost a year old.
On November 14, 2009, Paston had thwarted a penalty kick from lanky Bahrain defender Sayed Mohammad in the 50th minute which had sent 35,194 delirious New Zealand fans into raptures of celebration as the All Whites won 1-0 in the Asia/Oceania qualifier to go on to pocket $10 million as well as book their flights to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup finals. It was the first time for the Kiwis in 27 years and only the second time in New Zealand history.
Bahrain had dominated the opening leg at home in Manama but failed to score - a price they paid dearly for at the Cake Tin that Saturday night despite dominating the early stages of the game.
The press made much of Rory Fallon's 44th-minute goal in pursuit of a fairytale angle that the striker was 3 months old when his father, Kevin, was assistant coach of the All Whites' previous trip to the 12th soccer World Cup in Spain in 1982.
However, most scribes in the 2009 cup qualifier were oblivious to the fact another fairytale was in the making as the then 10-week-old Jack Paston somewhat unceremoniously became the new heir to that throne.
Baby Jack was snuggled up in a papoose pouch and strapped front-on to his mother, Amie, in a seat on section 32 of the stadium pulsating to a capacity crowd. He blissfully slept through the din which his mother added to.
Amie, who had politely asked Hawke's Bay Today the following day if she could stay out of the media glare, had ironically lost her voice.
Paston wasn't sold on the "legendary" status and other countless superlatives the media were throwing around like confetti at the press conference.
"I'm a little uncomfortable with that sort of talk, but yeah. Look, Rory scored the winner and the boys defended amazingly, especially for the second half, so I'm pretty uncomfortable with vogues."
Yesterday father John said: "There's no doubt in our minds because if they had drawn the match they wouldn't have gone to the World Cup."
Paston, who retired from the Wellington Phoenix franchise at the end of last A-League season, had left the saucepan simmering, as it were, on his All Whites ambitions with the 2015 World Cup finals in Brazil beckoning.
The boy who played for Eskview club in Napier at the age of 5 and was a promising equestrian for a while didn't miss playing football since retiring from Phoenix and that was a pretty good signal that it was time for him to move on.
"I've been given an opportunity in a new career doing something that I enjoy and my energy is focused in that direction at the moment," the former Napier City Rovers goalkeeper told APNZ.
"A World Cup campaign takes a huge amount of time and energy and I feel if I can't give it the commitment it deserves then it's time to step aside."
Paston, who has been working for an IT company in Wellington since early this year, retires with 35 "A" international caps for the All Whites after making his debut in September 1997 against Indonesia.
"The game against Bahrain was probably one of my favourite memories of playing in an All Whites shirt, along with the entire 2010 World Cup campaign. There's no one single moment that I would pick out but that was a pretty special time in my career.
"I would like to say thank you to the fans and everyone who I have worked with over the years. It hasn't always gone well for me with injuries but I wouldn't have changed anything, so it's great to be able to say thank you very much, said Paston who has a twin brother, Andrew, elder brother Simon, 38, and sister Joanna Gascoigne married to Paul Gascoigne who incidentally isn't the retired ex-Cup hero Paston bows out English international but a retired rugby-player from Cambridge, Waikato, where the couple live.
Christine and John were off to Cambridge today where Joanna, 34, was expected to have an induced labour in hospital for identical twins.
Christine said Mark Paston's retirement was inevitable and they had supported his decision.
"Basically his body is telling him enough is enough because he's had some hard knocks over the years," she said, adding travelling was taking its toll on the young family.
"In a way it's sort of sad but it has been a great feeling of satisfaction and achievement watching him throughout his career."
While there were many fond memories, especially his "exceptional matches" against Italy and South Africa in the World Cup, there were a few worrying ones with the onset of niggly injuries.
Like any athlete in any sport he had his share of mistakes - "you can't be perfect all the time", his mum said.
John said: "It's been a good ride and he's done us proud.
"It would have been nice if Mark had gone to another World Cup [in Brazil] but I can't see him going there as a second-string goalkeeper who would have sat on the bench.
" He's sat on the bench quite a bit in his career and I could never figure out why, but then again I have to be careful because it's his dad's take and probably a little prejudiced," said John who retired from Port of Napier as a relieving harbourmaster in March 2010 after a six-year stint.
"He's given us a lot of pleasure so we wish him all the best in his new career," he said of Paston who was the Hawke's Bay Sportsperson of the Year in 2003 although he was plying his trade professionally in England so his parents collected the award on his behalf.
Christine is a full-time horse breeder for showjumping and dressage. In June 2005, she went to Invercargill where she received a New Zealand award from Dressage New Zealand as the volunteer of the year for her services to the Horse of the Year Show, which has been staged in Hastings for the past few years.
Commitments to the Hoy Show as dressage convenor keeps her honest, too.
Daughter Joanna had carried on the family's rich equine tradition as a rider from her teen years after Mark gravitated to soccer.
For the record, Mark's middle son, Benjamin, who has inherited his dad's height, shows a lot more promise as a footballer than first-born Jack, according to Christine.