Ryan ARCHIBALD (New Zealand)

Ryan Archibald - New Zealand 
Date of Birth:  1 September 1980 (27)
Position: Midfielder

New Zealand captain Ryan Archibald is an outstanding playmaker in midfield who is known variously as 'Scratchy' or 'Eric'. He has been the mainstay of the Black Sticks engine room since debuting in 1997 against Malaysia. He now has over 200 international appearances and is New Zealand’s most decorated player.

At the age of 27, Archibald is finally playing on the biggest stage of them all, giving him the chance to emulate the achievements of his father. Jeff Archibald was part of the famous 1976 gold medal-winning team at the Montreal Olympics and is regarded as one of the best to ever play for New Zealand.

However, Ryan is far from overshadowed by the achievements of his father, and has rightly established a reputation as a world class midfielder.

Ryan Archibald missed out on Sydney 2000 when The Black Sticks failed to qualify, but looked all set to compete in Athens four years later. As luck would have it, his Olympic dreams were dashed yet again thanks to a bad break to his tibia just two months before the start of the tournament.

Having finally made it to an Olympic Games, Archibald will be hoping to inspire his team to a place on the podium.

In recent years, Archibald has been playing his club hockey for H.C. Rotterdam. Last year, his brilliant form took his side all the way to the Euro Hockey League semi-finals, with Archibald being short-listed for the Most Valuable Player award. Sadly, Archibald was on international duty for the semi-final against Dutch league rivals HGC and Rotterdam were eliminated. Had this massively influential player been playing, it may well have been a different story.