Fir Park in Glasgow will seem a lifetime away amid the cacophony of noise from those infernal vuvuzelas.

There could not be a greater contrast as Mark Paston walks out on the Rustenburg turf tomorrow with a nation’s World Cup hopes resting in his gloves.

Paston will earn his 24th New Zealand cap in their Group F clash with Slovakia, hoping for no repeat of Robert Green’s desperate blunder between the same posts.

For the 33-year-old goalkeeper, it will be the proudest moment of a journey that began in 2003 on tour in Scotland with the Bantams.

When Nicky Law put Paston’s name on the team sheet for the opening friendly at Partick Thistle, he was viewed as just another trialist.

After six seasons playing back home for Napier City Rovers, he had headed for Britain to try his luck professionally. City were his first port of call.

But he made enough of an impression on Law to earn a deal and the first-team jersey when that campaign kicked off.

Unfortunately it did not pan out as Paston or City had expected. Six games in, he was struck down by a stomach injury which was later diagnosed as a serious hernia problem.

Barring a couple of abortive comebacks, it effectively ruled him out for the next seven months. City, meanwhile, were once again disappearing down the financial plug hole of a second administration in the space of two years.

Paston did eventually return under Bryan Robson with relegation already confirmed – and had a Green-esque nightmare against the equally-doomed Wimbledon, spilling a free-kick into his net during an embarrassing home defeat.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and the goalkeeper who will stand up to Slovakia’s forwards cuts a far more dominant figure.

Whatever happens over the next fortnight, Paston’s place in New Zealand football history is guaranteed after his heroics in qualifying.

He spent last year’s Confederations Cup on the bench behind Glen Moss. But when his rival was handed a four-match ban for swearing at the referee in a qualifier against Fiji, Paston seized the opportunity.

His big test came from the penalty spot in last November’s play-off against Bahrain in Wellington. A goal would have sent the away side through – but Paston turned away Sayed Mohamed Adnan’s spot-kick to send the Kiwis into raptures.

Injury again brought him back down to earth a month later. A dead leg suffered in training with his club Wellington Phoenix turned out to be a fractured tibia and meant another lengthy lay-off.

Now fully recovered, he is ready to spike the guns of the country that put paid to Northern Ireland’s qualification dreams.

Former Valley Parade team-mate Paul Heckingbottom reckons it is great to see an unsung player like Paston performing on the game’s grandest stage.

Heckingbottom said: “You can just imagine how excited Mark must be feeling. You see all the superstars who play in big games every week but it’s good for the lads who have worked their way up.

“Every game will be a massive occasion for them. I know Rory Fallon, who scored the goal that got New Zealand there, and you could see the elation on his face.

“They have come through the ranks and now they’ve got the chance to play in the World Cup. That’s what it is all about.

“I remember Mark was a big lad with a long reach. He would pull off saves you wouldn’t expect a keeper to reach, a bit like Donovan Ricketts.

“It wasn’t easy for anybody with the season we had because of going into admin. Being down the bottom, we weren’t exactly the strongest team so Mark always had plenty to do.

“It must have been a tough first year for him, not just with the football but other circumstances going on. But he will have learned a lot.

“New Zealand will be the underdogs and every game will be against teams ranked much higher. But they can play without fear and enjoy it and I’m sure Mark will do that.”