The inspirational Aussie defender arrived at Phoenix in 2008 fresh from a grand final winning season with Newcastle Jets.

With the former Olyroo’s career on the up, he was also called up to Pim Verbeek’s A-League-based train-on squad for the World Cup qualifiers.

So a few eyebrows were raised when he launched the next step in his career at a franchise that had just won the wooden spoon and was in just their second season.

At that stage the fledgling Phoenix – and New Zealand football – was still the poor cousin of traditional sport rugby, despite encouraging numbers at grassroots.

Fast forward to August, 2010, and a stunning and swift transformation has swept through the country...and the heartbeat of the revolution is in Wellington. 

“It’s changed completely. When I first went over it was a really new club and people were trying to grasp the concept of football in New Zealand,” Durante told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“The success of last year and the success of the All-Whites people are now turning straight away. A lot of people have changed their rugby union memberships to get Phoenix memberships.

“That speaks volumes for how well the club’s marketed. And now it’s a brand, a fantastic brand with young kids wanting to play for Phoenix.”

New Zealand Football boss chief executive Michael Glading told the New Zealand Herald earlier this year that nearly 57,000 children aged five to 13 were playing the game each weekend, making it the country's most popular sport for youngsters.

And SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand) figures show 24,500 secondary students represented their schools at football last year - an increase of 12% on the previous year and a more than 20% increase since 2000.

The All-Whites’ thrilling World Cup adventure has no doubt been a huge factor. But Kiwi football’s swagger returned on other fronts.

New Zealand made the last 16 at the U/17 World Cup in Nigeria last November while Auckland City stunned many pundits most with a fantastic run at the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi a month later.

But last season, Phoenix’s first finals campaign stole the show with Westpac Stadium heaving to the sound of almost 33,000 fans for the minor semi-final against the Jets - which they won 3-1.

This came a week after a thrilling win on penalties against Perth Glory in a semi final attended by more than 24,000 Kiwi fans.

Wellington then went within a game of actually making the Grand Final, beaten by eventual champions Sydney FC in the preliminary final somewhat controversially. A hand-balled goal from Sydney FC striker Chris Payne - now at North Queensland Fury - helped the sky blues to a 4-2 victory.

But the results and crowds showed just how far Ricki Herbert’s men and the club had come.

Tonight Phoenix are hopeful of a 10,000 plus crowd – depending on the weather – when they open their A-League campaign against Shane Smeltz’s Gold Coast United.

And with the club’s supporter group Yellow Fever an early favourite for new FFA gong of “Fans of the Year” award, another noisy and wonderful atmosphere is expected at Fortress Westpac.

“I don’t think we’ve lost there for around two seasons," said Durante, 28. 'And Boca Juniors came and we knocked them off as well. Yellow Fever are superb and the wind and rain play in our favour.

“It’s a lot of pressure on us and we now have to maintain that. In recent seasons our away record hasn’t been that good but it’s been our home record that’s got us into the semis.

And Durante is putting the pressure on himself to score more goals. After his goal against the Argentines in July, he hopes to add goal-scoring to his bag of tricks.

He added: “Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come. I’d like to score more goals this year.

"Five would be lovely - I’ll aim for five!”

Meanwhile, Gold Coast have shrugged off concerns over their travel arrangements after the club their squad arrived in Wellington after midnight this morning for the game later today.

United are flying commercial and said there weren’t enough seats on an earlier flight. It meant United trained on Thursday morning in Australia before flying to Wellington arriving at 12.05 this morning.

However, with the time difference, the club told au.foufourfourtwo.com, that the players’ body clocks were still at 10pm.

With an early night’s sleep and a regular match day routine planned, the club was confident their players would be ready for the 7.30pm kick off.

But all the focus will be on Phoenix – and that’s just how Durante wants it.

“In the previous few seasons, if we made the semis, it was an amazing feat," he said. "Now, if we don’t make the semis, it’s seen as a massive disaster. So that’s great.

"The boys need pressure on them; we’re only going to improve as a club with pressure on us.”

*In other news, Sydney United youth team defender Ante Drazina, 18, has headed to Germany for a seven-day trial with Hertha Berlin. The towering young defender caught the eye after a DVD was sent to the Bundesliga outfit.