Soccer: Sigmund riding high after 'giving it one last shot'

Phoenix defender Ben Sigmund. Photo / Getty Images

Ben Sigmund quickly agrees, soccer, like life, is all about chances. And taking them.

At a time when he was cosily nestled in a good job - and with the immediate prospect of promotion - and adjusting to life in Auckland after years as a proud Cantabrian, Sigmund made the call to quit work and head to Australia. From there he won a second All Whites cap. The rest, as they say, is history.

Contemplating a first game at Eden Park - against Adelaide United tomorrow - Sigmund sees it as another high in a career which has stopped and started but now shown a local boy can come good.

Now happily married and a proud father - even if there were some anxious moments when he and Deanna's son Cameron was born 14 weeks premature - Sigmund said he would not change his life for the world.

Called into Ricki Herbert's team to play Wales (in England in 2007), Sigmund, in his first international since a debut off the bench for Ken Dugdale against Oman in 2000, joined Andy Boyens in a rookie central defensive pairing which played a crucial role in holding the Welsh to a 2-2 draw.

Sigmund virtually marked Welsh star Craig Bellamy out of the game. He returned home having sown the seeds in Herbert's mind that maybe he had found a gem.

Sigmund returned to Auckland City, the team he had joined in 2006 (after taking a job transfer and spending the first year commuting back to Christchurch to play for Canterbury United) to be part of the first sojourn by a New Zealand team to Fifa's Club World Cup, and played out the season at Kiwitea St.

"I was passionate about my football and was determined to give it one last crack. Switching from Canterbury United to Auckland City was a big part of that," said Sigmund. "I got the call-up to play Wales. Like Shane Smeltz, that game was a turning point for me.

"I came home, played another season at Auckland City and was then asked by Ricki Herbert to come and sign on the line with the Wellington Phoenix. It showed me that players in what was then the New Zealand Football Championship could play their way into the Phoenix.

"As a young footballer I did not have a soccer player like a Richie McCaw to look up to. In some way, I hoped I could do that for young soccer players."

As one of sport's Mr Nice Guys, Sigmund - "Siggy" to those who know him - has gone a long way to achieving that.

"There has to be a path from local football to the professional game. I have no problem with guys who leave New Zealand who go to university in the States but often they get a degree and use that rather than coming back and playing football. If the Phoenix had a reserve team perhaps that would stop that happening."

Sigmund has copped his share of yellow and red cards over the years but no one would ever tag him as dirty. He sees it more about his passion and competitiveness.

"I'll do anything to win for myself, my fans and my country," said Sigmund. "I love football but something I need to learn as I get older is I have to control that passion. In my most recent incident - that clumsy challenge on Archie Thompson - I straight away thought about what it would mean to my team, the coach and the fans.

"Okay, I got it wrong but would you ever want to stop Richie McCaw playing the way he does? I have that same passion and pride."

And he is keen to take that creed into the next World Cup.

"I remember sitting down with Tim Brown three or four years ago and setting playing at the 2010 World Cup as our goal. In a nice way, I was sick of seeing that '82 team as soccer's pin-up boys. I wanted to help our team emulate what they had done.

"Winning that game against Bahrain was the highlight of my career."