Playing Career
In 1987, Ben Shimon began his professional career in Maccabi Petah Tikva senior side, where he played until the 1994–95 season, winning two Toto Cup Artzit trophies (then second division) and on his last season he won the Toto Cup Leumit (then the first division), after a 2–1 victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv, scoring the second goal for Maccabi Petah Tikva in an accurate free kick.
Avram Grant, who managed Hapoel Haifa was interested in Ben Shimon in order the strengthening their defense. Maccabi Petah Tikva, headed by Avi Luzon were adamantly opposed. Robbie Shapira, then president of Hapoel Haifa and Avi Luzon agreed on an arbitrator. of which stated that no amount can release the player from Petah Tikva. Haifa was hardly surprised as Luzon was the one who picked the arbitrator. In the end, after Hapoel Haifa lost 4–1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Toto Cup, forcing Grant to look for defensive reinforcement, and Shapira agreed to buy Ben Shimon for 450,000 USD. The amount spent was also a significant for the new era in the Israeli football, which continued to struggle against Maccabi Haifa on players such as Tal Banin and Reuven Atar, and raised the bar on prices of players and their wages significantly.
In Hapoel Haifa Ben Shimon became a leader, and then the captain in the 1999 League championship season guided under Eli Guttman. In 2001 he won the Toto Cup with Hapoel Haifa. Ben Shimon also had 34 appearances in the Israeli national football team. Ben Shimon also play in Hapoel Petah Tikva in the 2001–02 season and in Bnei Yehuda in the 2002–03 season before retired from active football.
Read more about this topic: Ran Ben Shimon
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