VANCOUVER, June 20 (Reuters) - In a career that has taken him from the lows of being dropped by a variety of teams to the highs of the World Cup, New Zealand defender Francis de Vries is using his platform to help educate others about the precarious life of a professional footballer.
Vancouver is one of many stops in the globe-trotting career of De Vries, but this time around he won't be playing for the Whitecaps as he did in 2017 - this time, he will be lining up for New Zealand against Egypt, hoping to help them qualify for the knockout stage for the first time.
"It's pretty cool - it's not often in football you get a chance to go back to the place where you started. Some people are lucky enough to have that opportunity, and it's come around for me now, so that's good, and hopefully it'll be a good, positive, lasting memory," the 31-year-old told Reuters on Saturday.
A promising player at Canterbury United, De Vries moved to Switzerland and FC Basel but quickly realised he had a lot of work to do if he was to make it as a pro. He played college soccer in the United States for four years before being drafted by the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2017.
Despite the progress made, the axe fell again.
"To be told at the end of the season, thanks but we're not renewing your contract, it's pretty tough to hear when you feel like you've been training for it for 10-plus years, but that's how football goes - there's no guarantees," De Vries explained.
He returned home and signed for Canterbury United again before moving to Sweden in 2018, moving up through the ranks with an IFK Varnamo side that won two successive promotions that put them into the top-flight Allsvenskan.
However, just when it seemed that his career was about to take flight in Scandinavia, he suffered an ACL tear that brought his time at the club to an end, returning home once more to recuperate.
MAKING A LIVING
In the meantime, things had improved in top-level football in New Zealand, and De Vries is now playing for top-flight side Auckland FC and working with players on the mental side of the game, creating a series of YouTube videos with the New Zealand FA about the lessons of his journey.
"The videos are just an honest insight into what it's like inside someone's head when they're going through the journey to the World Cup," De Vries said in the luxurious surroundings of the downtown hotel lobby which is the team's base for their final two Group G games against Egypt and Belgium.
"It's talking a lot about setbacks and things when they don't go your way, how you can deal with them, how to overcome self-doubt, how to stay motivated when things get difficult, how to be a good teammate, so I thinkit's a cool thing for people to watch."
(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Christian Radnedge)
