Have followed his career from a young age here in Christchurch.
Remember him as a key part of the NZ u-17 side which beat Australia in the final of Oceania qualifying for the 1997 FIFA u-17 World Cup on an atrocious, wet, cold, wind-swept ANZAC weekend at QE II Stadium in Christchurch.
One of two Canterbury players in the side - it was fitting fellow Cantabrian Blair Scadden scored the winning goal.
Only Ben of that squad went on to a pro career and has any profile today (though Shaun Easthope has played World Cup qualifiers for Western Samoa, the land of his birth):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_FIFA_U-17_World_...
http://www.rsssf.com/tablesn/nz-u17-intres.html#97
Some of that defeated Aussie u-17 side went on to pro careers and big money like Jason Culina at Ajax and Mark Bresciano in Italy.
I still gleefully remember bumping in to the Aussie side in their blazers in downtown Christchurch a few days before the final and them being rather pissed-off I'd recognized them and chanted at them "You're going to lose...You're going to lose." Arrogance just oozed out of them...Culina was their star and particularly cocky.
Ben had a rocky road to becoming a pro and establishing himself as an All White - there was an incredible seven year gap between his All Whites debut in 2000 under Ken Dugdale and his recall in 2007 by Ricki for the Wales game in Wrexham.
He famously played only one game for the Football Kingz in 2003-4 under Dugdale who didn't seem to rate Ben much. He'd gone to all the trouble of giving up his job in Christchurch to move to Auckland for no real reward.
Previously as a teenager after the 1997 u-17 World Cup Wynton Rufer had secured trials for Ben and Blair Scadden in Germany at Hannover '96 etc. and they stayed on for a few months. Ben also trialled in the UK with no success and was even rejected by a non-league club. I remember football people here being astounded he didn't even pick up an offer from a non-league side. Both he and Blair returned to Christchurch, Blair becoming a successful national league striker. But Blair had met a German girl over there and eventually emigrated, never to return (that I know of). Blair's mum worked at my local 24 hour convenience store (she commented on my All Whites shirt one day - Strangely, Aaron Lines' mum also worked nearby at my local post office and also commented on my shirt - "My son's an All White...") and told me Blair would've liked to have taken a scholarship to a US university but as a solo mum she simply couldn't afford it.
Ben used to get into a lot of strife in his national league days with sometimes multiple red cards in a season. That lack of discipline held him back for a while. But he was such a committed and useful player that Canterbury United managers stuck with him and even made him captain at one stage.
Ben was great with the fans at national league games in Christchurch too and when suspended or injured always looked out for regular fans to talk to, asked how you were and if you were enjoying the game.
Ben is of Czech ancestry on his father's side (his Czech grandfather fled communist Czechoslovakia on skis after the war):
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/110727/grandfath...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/fifa-world-cup/all-wh...
"The Sigmund clan is noted for a feisty, almost rebellious streak.
Ben shows that on the field and it can be traced back to his grandfather's life story..."
Good bit of prose but you make it sound like his hung his boots up for good, not just retired from int. football!!!!
Was his stomp his last act as an AW, I can't recall him wearing White since?
P.S. Didn't mike Wilson kind of make it too, played at least semi-pro and made the AWs