Soccer: World Cup star's long trip home

When All Whites defender Winston Reid takes to the field at North Harbour Stadium tonight, the 22-year-old will be playing his first competitive game in New Zealand since he was 8 years old.

Reid secured New Zealand's first World Cup point when he headed home against Slovakia in their opening game, but is yet to represent New Zealand on home soil.

According to his dad, Lyle James, who met his son at the airport on Tuesday, the West Ham United player cannot wait to run out in front of his fans.

"It was all he was talking about," Mr James said. "He really wants to make the effort for all the people who went to South Africa and all the others back home who couldn't go."

Mr James will be at North Harbour Stadium to see the All Whites take on Honduras tonight and at Wellington's Westpac Stadium when they play Paraguay on Tuesday.

It will be the first time he has seen his son play in person since Reid's debut, against Australia in May.

"It was great," Mr James said. "It was quite moving at the time."

Reid's name could easily have never graced the back of an All White shirt. He was one of several players in the All Whites' World Cup squad to benefit from a change to Fifa international eligibility rules. At 11, Reid moved to Denmark with his mother, Prue, and stepfather, Jens Bjerregaard, and soon caught the eye of Danish Superligaen side FC Midtjylland, making his debut at 17.

He played for the Danish under-18, under-20 and under-21 sides, and it seemed inevitable Reid would one day make the senior side.

But in March, he switched his allegiance to New Zealand, allowing his selection for the World Cup-bound All Whites.

"He knows in retrospect it was the right decision," Mr James said. "It was a really hard decision for him, considering he has played most of his life in Denmark and represented them in age levels."

Reid's mother, Prue, said her son made the decision "from his heart".

"He rang us and told us he was thinking about it and what did we think," she said. "He told us that when his career as a professional football player is over he would like to come back to New Zealand and help other young Maori children to get into football. He had thought this far ahead. Of course we gave him our full backing."

As a child growing up on Auckland's North Shore, Reid was always interested in sport, his dad said.

"I had him hitting golf balls at the age of 4. He'd go out and kick soccer balls and rugby balls all day."

But Mr James did not expect his son to go from Takapuna AFC to the English Premier League's West Ham, who signed him this season.

"I probably didn't think he would have gone as far as he has - I hoped he would, of course."

His mum recalled a boy who was "always keen to win" when he played for Takapuna.

"While living in New Zealand I thought Winston would probably switch to rugby around the age of 12, but because we shifted to Denmark and football is the number one summer sport here - we enrolled him straight away into the local club.

"I knew he would always be good at sport - it was just a question of which one."

After All Whites training at Kristin School, Reid said it was good to be back on the North Shore where he grew up.

"There are a few memories," he said. "It's kind of nice to be home.

"It's where I come from, I lived around the corner in Takapuna and I lived in Milford before as well so it is nice being back here."