KEY POINTS:
Ryan Archibald will have his greatest fans turfside when he leads the Black Sticks into the biggest challenge of his hockey-playing career this afternoon.
Archibald, New Zealand's most decorated hockey player, is hoping it will be a case of third time lucky when he and his team chase
a coveted spot in the 12-team Olympic tournament.
As an added bonus, when he steps out on to the Crown Relocations Stadium turf on Tuesday for the match against the United States, he will, cheered by his grandparents, join the exclusive 200 club.
"My grandparents will be there. That is nice," said Archibald. "They are my biggest supporters."
They have spent a lifetime watching hockey. After all, son Jeff - Ryan's father - is, rightfully, regarded as one of the best to play for his country. Included in his 101 games for New Zealand, the epic 1976 Olympic gold medal triumph over Australia.
"To play 200 will be a bit of a thrill," said Archibald. "It is a small club at the moment."
But that will be a mere sidelight to the bigger picture - a shot at an Olympic medal.
He was in the team who fell at the final hurdle in their bid to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Four years later, the team did qualify but then Archibald was sidelined by an injury which saw him miss 15 internationals and a chance, by now, to be within sight of Simon Towns (217 caps) as New Zealand's most capped player.
Archibald's 200th cap will be, he admits, a big step up from his first international - a 4-0 win over Malaysia in Whangarei in 1997 - and his 100th in the 3-1 win over Canada in Napier in 2003.
He admits, given the current rate at which the national side chalks up their internationals, 300 is not out of the question. But, just as quickly he adds, the question is whether "I keep playing long enough to achieve that".
He will re-assess his future after the Olympics, provided of course the Black Sticks win here. "I am going back to Europe after the qualifiers for the second half of the Dutch season," said Archibald, who has been in an on-going four-year relationship with fellow international and almost certainly Beijing-bound Kim Noakes.
"After that I will look at it. I worked with the Mainfreight Group for two years and I'm still very keen to do something outside hockey."
But not, one feels, until the Olympic dream is fulfilled.
