Although he made his international debut nearly a decade ago, combative central defender Ben Sigmund is somewhat of a late bloomer. Now 29, Sigmund made his international debut as a substitute in August 2000 against Oman, but didn't earn a second cap until 2007, and has since become a common feature in Ricki Herbert's sides, even donning the captain’s armband for the All Whites in their final 2010 FIFA World Cup™ qualifier against Fiji.<\/P>
Along with Dave Mulligan, Sigmund was the only player to feature in all six of New Zealand's 2010 FIFA World Cup Oceania zone qualifiers but with 477 minutes under his belt he saw more time on the park than any other player. Sigmund has shared the vice-captaincy role with Tim Brown on a number of occasions.<\/P>
After several successful seasons at Auckland City in the New Zealand Football Championship culminated in winning the league's Player of the Year award in 2008, Sigmund finally made the step-up to professional football with Wellington Phoenix where he has fitted in seamlessly. Sigmund was a regular in his first season at the club with his career continuing to dramatically advance, as the Phoenix this year claimed a first-ever A-League finals berth.<\/P>
Despite undergoing serious hip surgery in January 2009 Sigmund made a faster-than-expected recovery to be included in New Zealand’s squad for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009. He finally made his on field comeback with an aggressive 70 minute showing in the All Whites historic scoreless draw with Asian Champions Iraq. A gutsy performance as part of a centre-back trio helped New Zealand earn a 0-0 draw against Bahrain in Manama in the first leg of the South Africa 2010 play-off, before the under-rated Sigmund reprised that performance with an equaling solid showing in the second leg in Wellington.<\/P>","2278C81F60D7F1ECF170F6DDE4B76865":"Auckland City","7379EA3CEBE73A3F":"180cm","5BAE2FF41BC6AD03489546EF11EAFCB7":"1981-2-3","FD159EB5937AD12F4B2E9E75B80D3D16":"New Zealand","D39E7C23A464F86D":"1","1A49EE26E6AAD5C64FC6A19EFDD00C1A":"Auckland City,Fawkner Blues,Canterbury United","185D9308B7C9E0BBE486C613A62D93FE":"2","B6B40535701B4CD0DB864915DEF06E2A":"","12F030D6FCEE9D12":"49799","BE541FF326E82F6A":"Wellington Phoenix","7FB3F46040506B81":"Benjamin Sigmund","4FB95329DB27F065AB688F47FF3E7436":"2008-7","572BB26E7A76C211":"","5BB437CAF240E475":"84kg","EDBF020A791C65EC6DC356F5C22437AB":"18","e_index":5};