Wellington Phoenix’s Andrew Durante reflects on nearly losing his life two decades ago as he heads into his 310th game
Wellington skipper Andrew Durante’s soccer life has been nothing short of miraculous after being shot during a soccer match two decades ago.
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Andrew Durante’s soccer career is nothing short of remarkable after surviving a sniper’s bullet when he was playing for Sydney Olympic two decades ago.
The now 36-year-old Wellington Phoenix monument will this Sunday continue to head an incredible A-League record appearances at Hindmarsh Stadium, expecting to start against Adelaide United.
Since taking that bullet, Durante’s soccer life has been almost miraculous and marvellous after making his NSL debut for Olympic in 2001.
Durante won the A-League championship with Newcastle Jets, the Joe Marston medal for being best on ground in the 2008 grand final, sat on the bench for the Socceroos, was capped by New Zealand and had the unenviable task of marking Portugal and Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Durante will front the competition for the 310th time — including 39 matches for Jets — but it’s a long way from the suburban western Sydney where a gunman fired a .22 calibre rifle at his team during a trial match.
Durante was the unlucky one when a bullet pierced the right side of his chest and lodged under his armpit before being surgically removed when he was just 17.
“I’m lucky the bullet didn’t hit me in the other side of my chest but it was a weird day,’’ Durante recalls after the gunman was never found.
“I got through it, it didn’t scare me from doing the normal things in life and I do remember my teammates telling me they heard whizzing sounds fly past their heads during this match before I got shot, they must have been bullets.
“No big deal was made about the incident back then there was no social media, they never caught the shooter.”
What a warrior he's been. Andrew Durante shot as a kid in 1999: pic.twitter.com/IDOUEWsOew
— Mark Boric (@MarkBoric) March 9, 2019
Durante’s humbleness is also a quality which has kept the centre back’s longevity ticking over.
He revealed he naturally became Phoenix coach Mark Rudan’s confidante when the former Reds centre back won his first A-League coach contract on May 30.
Rudan, 43, signed a two-year deal but it appears the revered boss is likely to head to new A-League club Western United in the new 2019/20 season.
After critics had a field day when Rudan lost his first official game when Phoenix crashed to Victoria’s Bentleigh Greens 1-0 in the FFA Cup’s round-of-32 on August 7, Durante always believed in the tough rookie boss.
Now the talk is all about Phoenix being a championship contender especially if the club can jag a home final first up during the play offs.
“He (Rudan) has been great for the club,’’ Durante said.
“Everyone knows their place, he commands respect and we’re not thinking about any other possibilities other than beating Adelaide United on Sunday.
“That will give us a six point gap (over fifth-placed Adelaide).”
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