Durante to equal A-league record
Andrew Durante would prefer to treat this weekend’s game against Adelaide United as just another 90 minutes of football.
But the Wellington Phoenix captain will be unable to escape the celebrations of bringing up two significant milestones.
He will equal goalkeeper Danny Vukovic’s record of most A-league appearances when he strides out for his 278th match in the league. It will also be his 100th match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
Durante would enjoy the special moment tonight, saying it would be a proud moment.
‘‘All the milestones that you hit during your career are always special.
‘‘To be the equal-most capped player in the league is probably up there with one of the more special ones.
‘‘Proud is the biggest thing, to be around so long. I missed the entire first season of the A-league with a broken leg and that was my second broken leg, so for me to continue playing for so long after that is pretty special.’’
Durante’s A-league debut was for the Newcastle Jets, who he made 40 appearances for, against the Phoenix’s predecessor, the New Zealand Knights, in Auckland in August, 2006.
His captain that day was current Central Coast Mariners coach Paul Okon, while former All White Vaughan Coveney was also a teammate. It ended in a dour 0-0 draw in front of 7000-odd people, but was a match Durante remembers fondly.
‘‘I still remember it, but only because I had been out of the game for so long. I was 12 months out with the broken leg and it was my first game back for such a long time.
‘‘I remember the game, blockbuster, nil-all. That was a long time ago and I’ve come such a long way after some really big setbacks early in my career, so to play so many games I’m really proud of that.’’
While Durante admitted he didn’t really enjoy the buildup to these sort of moments, he joked he would be getting the most out of it over the next three weeks, with the
record-breaking match set to be in his hometown of Sydney on February 2 and Football Federation Australia planning to make a presentation to him the following weekend to commemorate the milestone.
‘‘I’ve got about three weeks worth of milking this thing,’’ he said with a laugh.
‘‘It will be nice in front of mum and dad and some other family members. At this stage, the most important thing really is the team and winning.’’
Before his A-league debut, he played 58 times in the old National Soccer League for Sydney Olympic and Parramatta Power, taking his overall appearance tally in the top level of Australian football to 335.
As for the future, Durante has yet to make a decision on his playing career beyond this season.
The immediate focus was on beating Adelaide, who arrive in Wellington off the back of a 5-0 loss to Melbourne City and without suspended captain Isaias.
‘‘Our last two home games were good strong performances on the front foot, we’ll carry that on with another home game against Adelaide and they’re missing a few key players, so it’s a really key opportunity for us to continue this momentum and keep climbing the ladder,’’ Durante said.