The 1.91m Marinovic will head back to his German third division club Wehen Wiesbaden. He is contracted there until the end of this season, though must be hopeful that he caught the eye of scouts.
At the very least, he will now be on the radar; before this tournament he was a relative unknown, particularly to New Zealand audiences.
"He looks a promising keeper," says Paston. "He is the right size and has filled out a bit. It is good to see, as there has been a bit of a hole in our goalkeeping stocks."
Paston knows all about the vagaries of professional football, experiencing the highs and lows in Europe before the recent heroics for the All Whites and Phoenix in the twilight of his career.
"It is difficult - there are hundreds of other quality keepers there waiting their chance. And, as a goalie, you have to be patient; we don't get the chances to impress like outfielders, you just have to wait for your break."
It can be a matter of luck - the top keeper picks up an injury and you get your chance, as happened at the Central Coast Mariners last season, where reserve keeper Matthew Ryan seized his opportunity and is now firmly established.
"It is harder for keepers," agrees former All White Fred De Jong. "The transfer market for them is not as active, only at the top end. But Stefan is the perfect build for a keeper, has a strong kick and is a good shot stopper. The mental side is also huge and he seems very confident."
All White legend Wynton Rufer has seen more of Marinovic than most, coaching him at his Wynrs academy in Auckland for several years before arranging the move to Germany.
"Stefan is a goalkeeper of international standard," says Rufer. "You can see why I recommended him to Ricki [Herbert] last year before the World Cup".
Rufer recalls the traits at 13-years-old that made him stand out.
"He was quite arrogant and thought he knew it all," says Rufer. "He was a loudmouth and a bit of a young upstart - but as a keeper you need that confidence and self belief."
As Rufer tells it, some other parents in the academy were quite offended; they thought Marinovic was "rude and horrible", the way he would shout and admonish their sons during games and practice.
"He was always talking it up and quite intimidating but at the end of the day those are the qualities you need to make it as an international keeper. You could see the boy had the goods and I'm sure he will be the All Whites No1 in the future."
But like Paston, Rufer knows that Marinovic still has many hurdles to overcome.
"He will need to stay injury free, need some luck and hope to get a break," says Rufer.
Meanwhile, Marinovic and his team will wait on results from today's matches in groups C and D. Their two point haul is already better than Panama, who finished third in group E and could yet see off potential rivals Australia and Ecuador (one point each) from group C or Guatemala and Croatia (both pointless) in group D.
New Zealand would need just one of set of results to go their way but coach Chris Milicich wasn't holding his breath.
"There's huge interest in the games [today] but at the end of the day if you go through with two draws, it's pretty fortuitous."
They displayed plenty of courage and conviction against the highly rated Portuguese, but looked tired and not as sharp as previous matches.
Marco Rojas, expected to be the potential ace in the pack yesterday, was particularly subdued and replaced in the 76th minute, but it is unknown how much his hamstring strain was affecting him.
Strangely, Milicich chose not to use Tim Payne, who had impressed in earlier matches, and also elected not to give striker Sean Lovemore some time at the death to run at the Portuguese.
The highly touted Cameron Lindsay had his first start, but it was not a performance to remember. He had several poor touches and was largely at fault for the Portuguese goal, being caught flat footed as he allowed the opposing fullback to slip by him and slot home the winner.
