KEY POINTS:
New Zealand men's hockey team captain Ryan Archibald has been rated as one of the five most valuable players in the European Hockey League.
Archibald, who plays for HC Rotterdam of the Netherlands, is currently injured and not playing in the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia where the Black Sticks have had two poor games with losses to Pakistan and Malaysia after beating India 4-3.
Their next match is against Argentina today.
Archibald's HC Rotterdam team made the semifinals of the European league before being knocked out by fellow Dutch side, HGC. Rotterdam beat Club Egara of Spain for third placing while HGC lost to Germany's Uhlenhorster in the final.
The European league's most valuable player award went to Uhlenhorster's Moritz Furste, who headed off Archibald, David Alegre and Edi Tubau of Club Egara and Barry Middleton of HGC. The league features 24 of Europe's top hockey clubs from 12 countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Belgium and England.
- NZPA
