Soccer success at an elite level came late for Pat Onstad.
He was 35 when Major League Soccer finally came calling in 2003 - a star goalie in the second-tier North American A-League who had been unable to find an elite soccer home.
When his MLS chance finally came, he made the most of it. Expecting to play two or possibly three seasons, the Vancouver native starred in eight and made a difference in each one.
On Tuesday, the 42-year-old Canadian international dropped the curtain on that stellar playing career and announced he was retiring from the Houston Dynamo to become an assistant coach with D.C. United.
He leaves with three MLS championships and two MLS goalkeeper of the year awards.
"When I look back at the MLS stage of my career, I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished from the age of 35 on," Onstad told The Canadian Press. "I worked hard for that."
"It's been a great experience," he added. "To kind of come late, I think I appreciated it more than probably most do at a younger age."
Failure fuelled Onstad prior to coming to MLS.
A move to Dundee United in Scotland in 1999 was derailed by work permit problems, knee surgery, a broken finger, his manager and the fine play of the other 'keepers at the club.
The six-foot-four, 215-pound goalie eventually left without making a single first-team appearance in a year and a half. Adding to his frustration was a possible move to FC Copenhagen falling through because Dundee United slapped a 100,000-pound price tag on him.
His contract had one year remaining when he walked away. He left money on the table to return home and play.
Onstad recalls his stint in Scotland as a frustrating time.
But he also says he didn't play very well there, feeling he was perhaps only brought in to push incumbent Alan Combe.
He recalls a "very negative" environment where coaches browbeat players and tried to break them down to see if they could build themselves back up again.
"I hadn't really been in that environment before and I didn't handle it very well," he said.
"I don't think I took the opportunity that was presented there," he added. "I think I was pretty determined when I did get that one more opportunity in MLS, I wanted to make the most of it."
"I learned how to become a better professional in the sense of how to train day in, day out. How to deal with adversity a little bit better. There's no doubt in my mind it made me a better goalkeeper when I came back."
He came back and signed a three-year contract with the Rochester Raging Rhinos of the A-League, thinking he would finish out the contract and start a teaching career.
A call from the MLS changed that. And he finally got his shot, after some prolonged negotiations to get him out of his contract.
In signing Yallop for the San Jose Earthquakes, coach Frank Yallop called his fellow Canadian "a very calming influence back there."
"He does all the right things goalkeepers should," Yallop said at the time. "He's not flashy, he just does all the things you want him to do."
Mike Toshack, a fellow Canadian who was Onstad's goalkeeping coach for part of his time in Houston, echoed that in 2007 when Onstad set a league record with a goals-against average of 0.82 for the Dynamo.
"He is very nuts and bolts and does all the things he is supposed to do very well," said Toshack.
"Very rarely will you see a mishap from Pat, such as a ball through the legs or one he should have had. Very rare. And he is capable of the spectacular but, because of his good positioning and reading the game, he's always where he should be to make the save and makes it look quite easy."
In eight seasons with San Jose and Houston, Onstad conceded 247 goals. Compare that to Toronto FC, whose 'keepers have picked the ball out of the net 179 times in four seasons.
Onstad cites the 2005 and 2009 seasons as special ones.
In 2005, the Earthquakes won the Supporters' Shield as the league's best team in the regular season and Onstad was selected goalie of the year for a second time. The Quakes did not win the MLS Cup but only lost four of 32 games in the regular season.
"A fantastic team," he said.
On a personal level, Onstad thinks he played better in other years but had the rub of the green that season.
"It seems like everything that I did, whether it was racing wildly off my line, I pulled it off somehow. Things would just kind of go my way. If I missed the ball, a defender would be there to bail me out whereas other years you'd get punished for it."
In 2009, Onstad had what he thought he had his best personal season in MLS.
He played every minute in the regular season, posting 10 shutouts and an 0.97 goals-against average for the Dynamo.
He won titles in 2003 with San Jose and '06 and '07 with Houston and was named the league's top 'keeper in 2003 and 2005.
Onstad leaves the game as the most capped Canadian goalkeeper with 57 appearances. He surpassed Craig Forrest in his final game for his country, a 5-0 loss behind a young team facing mighty Argentina in Buenos Aires on May 24.
His penultimate game was a painful 1-1 World Cup qualifying tie with Jamaica in Toronto in August 2008, when Onstad got a hand to a ball from a corner only to redirect it into the net.
It was a mistake that stayed with him.
"That was probably the lowest point I had playing the game," Onstad said.
"For some reason I think I've always felt the weight of the country on my shoulders when I play," he added. "I enjoy that but at the same token I felt we had an excellent opportunity to maybe do something with that group and that goal weighed heavily in our qualifying.
"In the end I don't think it really meant much but you could argue it set the tone for the rest of qualifying."
Onstad was roasted by some critics. Canada played poorly the rest of the qualifying round and exited with its tail between its legs.
Onstad only played once more for the national team. While he never complained - and in fact stood up for beleaguered coach Dale Mitchell - the public criticism he took over that goal had taken a toll.
Still he has fond memories of a national career that stretched more than 22 years, from 1988 to 2010.
"I enjoyed it, whether I was playing or sitting behind Craig (Forrest)and sometimes Paul (Dolan). It was a great group of guys and the part I liked about it was every guy that had come in to the Canadian team was sacrificing in some form or some way to represent their country and it meant a lot to them.
"Especially probably even before the MLS kind of took off. Craig Forrest was coming in and losing his spot at Ipswich Town, Frank Yallop, same thing, Colin Miller, same thing. Randy Samuel, scrambling for clubs because he's away with Canada. But there was no hesitation when the guys came in. When they got the phone call, they were hopping on plane and coming to represent their country.
"It was nice to be part of a group like that. I really enjoyed those times with Canada."
He posted a record 21 shutouts in his 57 appearances.
Onstad has been planning his move to the coaching ranks for some time now. He already has his U.S. 'A' licence, the highest level south of the border.
He knows D.C. United coach Ben Olsen from his playing days and from their days as members of the players union executive board. They also share an agent.
Onstad will serve a dual role as an assistant coach and goalkeeping coach.
He has achieved and has served as an assistant coach to Tony Fonseca with the Canadian under-23 team, a role he will have to give up because of the demands of his new job.
"Pat's obviously had a fantastic playing career," said former Canadian captain Jason deVos, who was instrumental in getting Dundee United to bring Onstad over.
"If he applies the same work ethic and determination to his coaching career that he did to his playing career, he's going to be very successful in the game."
Onstad turns 43 in January and says he is not missing his normal off-season regimen of "busting my ass in the gym."
"My body is still even now beaten up from the season. Usually by now I'm well on my way getting ready for pre-season. I think I'm looking forward to going on to a different challenge."
He starts work with D.C. United on Jan. 4.
In MLS regular-season history, he ranks as the league's all-time leader in goals-against average (1.12) among goalkeepers with at least 10,000 minutes and third among all qualifying goalkeepers. He also ranks fifth all-time with 64 shutouts.
In career post-season games, Onstad was 10-7-4 with a 1.23 GAA.