Francis de Vries just might be the busiest footballer in New Zealand at the moment – but you won’t catch him complaining about the situation.
It feels like de Vries has played almost non-stop over the past year, such has been the demand for club and country. The Auckland FC fullback started all 28 matches of the inaugural campaign, averaging 85 minutes a game. Across the same period he has been in every All Whites’ camp – including trips to Canada, Poland, Norway and the United States – and appeared in 10 internationals, with Libby Cacace missing a decent chunk of those trips through club commitments or injury.
Sometimes it has been a crunch; there were only a few days between Auckland’s semi-final exit last season in late May and his departure for North America before the games against Ivory Coast and Ukraine in early June. Then came arguably the longest pre-season in the football world – which included de Vries playing every minute (390) of their four-match Australia Cup campaign.
De Vries – who turned 31 on Friday – has also been an ever-present for Auckland FC this year.
“It’s been hard for sure, but I’m feeling great about it,” said de Vries. “I’m happy that my body’s holding strong and trying to stay level, consistent, obviously enjoy the good moments but also be relaxed about the whole process of it.
“It’s what you dream about when you’re younger, when you’re training all the time – training, training, training - and you’re hoping that you’ll get an opportunity like this, so now that it’s come, I’ve definitely taken a step back, reflected and enjoyed it, and definitely makes you want to keep going.”
Last weekend’s game against Brisbane Roar was another test: De Vries had arrived back in the country only at 6am on the Friday, after facing Ecuador in New Jersey fewer than 48 hours before. He tried to manage the jet lag – staying awake until 9pm that day – but still “wasn’t feeling great” by the 3pm kickoff on Sunday.
“You’re always playing with some sort of fatigue when you’re a professional footballer,” said de Vries. “[But] amazing experiences, to go away with New Zealand.”
The matches against Colombia and Ecuador were career highlights – “against some of those players that you’ve only dreamed about seeing before” – and de Vries acquitted himself well in challenging circumstances.
Given his background – and his long road to becoming a professional footballer, where he was a part-time player for many years and thought the dream was over more than once – de Vries exudes gratitude for the situation he has found himself in.
He is regarded as a near certainty to be part of Darren Bazeley’s World Cup squad next June, which is a remarkable scenario for someone who never represented his country at age-group level and was 27 when he started an All Whites match for the first time.
“I actually remember thinking when I was over in Sweden [that] I hope one day, we play the [Oceania] Nations Cup and no one decides to show up and maybe I’ll get a cap sometime,” said de Vries. “So now to be in the mix regularly and obviously having played a decent amount this last year, it’s pretty good timing and awesome to be in that conversation, [but] I’m not taking anything for granted.”
Life is good for de Vries, who brought in two homemade cakes for his post-training birthday celebrations on Friday.
“My mum’s a baker – so no choice there,” the player quipped.
There is also excitement in the household over the impending arrival of Ikea in Auckland, especially for his longtime Swedish partner, Lisa, who has already taken the day off work for the opening next Thursday.
“She said, I’m going front of the line, make sure everything’s there,” laughed de Vries. “She is dead keen on the furniture.”
On a more serious note, de Vries is looking forward to Sunday’s clash with Newcastle (3pm), as the team hope to quickly move on from the tepid 1-1 draw with Brisbane, which coach Steve Corica labelled as one of the worst in the club’s short history.
“They played a very good game, and we didn’t really get going,” said de Vries. “We were subpar, we all know that, and everyone’s taking responsibility. Not the best day for us, but something that we can learn from.”
Corica has been satisfied with the response, while also intentionally stepping back, with only three training sessions after five last week.
“Maybe we overcooked them a little bit,” said Corica. “But we’re not using any excuses.”
They won’t be underestimating Newcastle, who have only one win from five matches but have scored nine goals, with just Sydney FC (12) and Adelaide United (10) having found the net more. Central defender Dan Hall is certain to return – after a week’s suspension – while vice-captain Jake Brimmer is also likely to start, after recovering from the dislocated shoulder suffered against the Wellington Phoenix.
Corica faces a difficult call between Nando Pijnaker and Jake Girdwood-Reich – though the Australian will be hard to dislodge – while winger Marlee Francois is another back in the mix.
“There could be a couple of changes,” said Corica. “There’s a few options. Everyone is on alert to play at their highest [level], otherwise, there will be changes.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.