Robert Green will blow out the candles on his 30th birthday cake with a smile on his face.
The West Ham United and England goalkeeper has every right to celebrate his personal landmark on Monday after producing an outstanding display in the goalless Barclays Premier League draw at Aston Villa 24 hours previously.
Green's performance earned his team a second clean sheet in three league matches, as well as a vital point in their bid to climb the table.
Having ended his 20s in fine form, the Chertsey-born stopper is aiming to get even better as he enters his fourth decade.
"I can celebrate a bit as I didn't let one in," he joked. "All of a sudden it's time for me to start living up to my potential now that I'm 30! As a goalkeeper, they say 32 or 33 is your prime so I've still got a bit of improving to do."
While Green has big plans for his future, including a place in Fabio Capello's FIFA World Cup squad, the birthday boy was justifiably proud of his most recent performance in a West Ham shirt.
Having kept a clean sheet on his debut as a 19-year-old for Norwich City in an East Anglian derby against Ipswich Town in April 1999, Green was at his best again in repelling Martin O'Neill's side.
Aside from catching numerous crosses and dealing with no fewer than 16 corners, the goalkeeper made two world-class saves to deny England squad-mate Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Green was happy not only with his own display, but also that of his colleagues. Lone striker Frank Nouble, 18, was singled out for special praise.
"Villa Park is a difficult place to go. There were a lot of balls into the box and pressure on us at times but we dealt with it. Frank did brilliantly up front on his own, too. At the start, looking at the game and the attacking options we had, we'd have taken a point.
"I enjoyed it. You knew they were going to put balls in and you've got to choose when to go for them and be positive. You've also got to be aware of the knockdowns as they've got quality players who are going to shoot and your defenders are not always going to block it. It was tough but a good game to play in.
"Two clean sheets in three games is a positive. It's not been an easy game for the club and it's a difficult situation, but this gives us a chance. We've got four points from our last three games [against Portsmouth and at Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa] and that's probably as good as we could have hoped for."