Ben Waine: it’s been a “tough season” now it’s time to go “another level up” in the World Cup

New Zealand International Ben Waine reflects on a tricky start to his Port Vale career and a chance to upset the odds in the World Cup finals.

Waine is set to be only the second current Port Vale player, after Chris Birchall, to appear in a World Cup. His New Zealand side are set to open their campaign with a match against Iran.

We want to get our first win on the world stage and we want to get out of the group for the first time ever. There is going to be that opportunity to be the hero. You just want that one moment…

Ahead of the game, Waine reflected on the season with Sky Sports commenting: “It has been a tough season. I’m not going to lie. There was a good amount of time where I wasn’t in the squad at all. It sucked in the moment but it was probably one of the best things to happen to me. I was really able to work on my game.

The striker did just that putting in hours with coach Simon Ireland with Waine adding: “Because I was so desperate to do well, I was rushing actions in front of goal. Literally, every day we would work on one or two types of finish, just focusing on the technique.  It was about trying to find that composure, that finish that I could go to without thinking so it became instinct. It gave me real purpose. I knew what I was working towards. Even when things were not going well, I had that to work on. It made me relax a bit more.

“I promised myself that however hard it got I was not going to go back (to New Zealand). That would have been the easy option. I stuck it out and have come out of it as a better player and a better person.”

The work paid off with Waine finding form and regular football later in the season. Now he has a World Cup finals with New Zealand to look forward to and he told Sky Sports: “You have to realise that when we are stepping up and playing harder opposition, we cannot expect the results to be perfect. We have had to mentally adjust.

“My first thought was that we have actually got a chance here. Everyone sees us as underdogs but we want to take the opportunity that is in front of us. We want to get our first win on the world stage and we want to get out of the group for the first time ever.

“There is going to be that opportunity to be the hero. You just want that one moment.”