RACHEL HOWARD - A Personal Appreciation by Jeremy Ruane Rachel Howard's decision to hang up her gloves following the 2008 Olympic Games wasn't forced on the 'keeper in any way - it was typical of her selfless nature that she chose to step down in order to give others the chance to benefit from the experiences to be gained at international level. With a pending job transfer to Adidas' Shanghai offices, and having spent the bulk of the last couple of seasons bench-warming while Jenny Bindon dominated the number one jersey she coveted, she felt the time was right to step down from the world stage on which she had performed on and off over the last decade. Few will forget her international debut - a 5-0 drubbing in May 1998 at the hands of a rampant Mia Hamm and Team USA which was televised live around the globe on ESPN, a result which would have been greater still but for a Woman of the Match performance from New Zealand's rookie number one. That performance cemented Rachel's position as the SWANZ first choice custodian, but two errors in the vital Women's World Cup play-off with Australia later that year cost her dearly. While New Zealand missed out on Oceania's spot at USA '99, Rachel served a punishment with which the majority of her peers would have struggled to cope - she was overlooked for national duty for the next five years. The 2004 Australia Cup was the next time Rachel wore the silver fern over her heart, and as if her character hadn't been tested enough, she found herself in goal for the last half-hour of New Zealand's darkest night on the world stage, as North Korea handed the Kiwis their heaviest ever defeat, 11-0. A further three years elapsed before she was next seen in her country's number one jersey, and after the two defeats by Australia in Canberra, she donned the gloves just once more in 2007, in the second match of Canada's visit to these shores, her first time back in the squad after she had to withdraw from the Women's World Cup qualifying tournament at the eleventh hour due to a tragic family bereavement. By this time, Jenny Bindon had made the number one spot her own, and game-time for Rachel became increasingly rare. Her final start twixt the sticks for NZ saw the Football Ferns score a 2-0 win in Papua New Guinea to qualify for the Olympics. Her fourteenth and, as it turned out, final cap was earned in somewhat bizarre circumstances. She was sent off for committing a professional foul within two minutes of coming on as a half-time substitute against Canada at the 2008 Peace Queen Cup ... Not a manner in which Rachel Howard deserved to see the curtain fall on her career on the world stage, in light of what she had endured over the past decade. Nonetheless, she will always look back with pride on having been a non-playing substitute at both the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals and the 2008 Olympic Women's Football Tournament, and her experience in the Frauen Bundesliga. Not forgetting, of course, her memorable international debut ... A trooper, and a real team player. Thanks, Rach.