Argentina women's national field hockey team explained

Argentina
Size:120px
Nickname:Las Leonas (The Lionesses)
Association:Confederación Argentina de Hockey (CAH)
Confederation:PAHF (Americas)
Coach:Fernando Ferrara
Assistant:Santiago Capurro
Alejandra Gulla
Manager:María Villalba
Captain:Agostina Alonso
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze
Most Caps:Luciana Aymar (376)
Top Scorer:Noel Barrionuevo (185)
Max Rank:1st
Max Date:2003 – 2010 – 2011
Min Rank:4
Min Date:2018
Type:women
Olympic Apps:9
Olympic First:1988
Olympic Best:2nd (2000, 2012, 2020)
World Cup Apps:15
World Cup First:1974
World Cup Best:1st (2002, 2010)
Regional Name:Pan American Games
Regional Cup Apps:9
Regional Cup First:1987
Regional Cup Best:1st (1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2019, 2023)
2Ndregional Name:Pan American Cup
2Ndregional Cup Apps:6
2Ndregional Cup First:2001
2Ndregional Cup Best:1st (2001, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2022)
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Title2:Away colours

The Argentina women's national field hockey team (Spanish; Castilian: Selección femenina de hockey sobre césped de Argentina|links=no) is governed by the Argentine Hockey Confederation (CAH). The current coach is Fernando Ferrara, who was appointed after Carlos Retegui let go in late 2021. The team is currently second in the FIH Women's World Ranking.

Las Leonas (The Lionesses) have appeared in six Hockey World Cup finals, including the first final in 1974, which they lost 1–0 to the Netherlands. Argentina had to settle with second place in two more finals before winning the tournament for the first time in 2002, beating the Netherlands 4–3 in the final on penalty strokes after a 1–1 draw. Argentina, led by eight-time FIH Player of the Year Luciana Aymar won again in 2010, a 3–1 victory over the Netherlands. Argentina's World Cup-winning coaches are Sergio Vigil in 2002 and Carlos Retegui in 2010.

Argentina has been very successful at the Summer Olympics, winning four consecutive medals (two silver, two bronze) since the 2000 edition, when they became the first women's team in any sport to win an Olympic medal for their country. Luciana Aymar is the only player that has participated and won those four medals. Also, after their first title in 2001 at a Hockey Champions Trophy, they have won the tournament six more times. In front of a home crowd, they won the 2014–15 Hockey World League as the first international title after Aymar's retirement from the national team the previous year.

At a continental level, Argentina has dominated and won every tournament they played, including the Pan American Cup and the Pan American Games leaving the United States with second place on most events until they lost the 2011 Pan American Games final for the first time.

In July 2003, after the implementation of an official World Ranking System, Argentina reached the top of the FIH Women's World Ranking for the first time, reaching it again in 2010 after obtaining the World Cup title and once more in late 2013.

History

Hockey was introduced in Argentina by English immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century, and the first women's teams were officially formed in 1909.[1] In 1997, Sergio Vigil, a former player for the men's national team, was appointed coach. Under his leadership, Las Leonas achieved their first World Hockey Cup title, their first Olympic medals, their first Champions Trophy medals, and many other achievements. The team went from having a rather limited audience to becoming a national sensation, with some of the players even appearing as models in advertising campaigns.

Nickname

Throughout its history, the team has developed a reputation for being tenacious even when a match appears to be lost. For this reason, a lioness was chosen as their symbol when the team qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics. During the second round of games, Argentina played against the powerful Dutch team, and they chose this occasion to place the image of a lioness on their shirts for the first time.

The image was designed by then-player Inés Arrondo together with Vigil's sister-in-law.[2] Argentina won that match, went on to win the silver medal, and Las Leonas were born. Subsequently, the junior (under 21) team is called Las Leoncitas ("the baby lionesses" or "the lioness cubs").

The lioness logo was redesigned in 2006 by the team kit supplier, Adidas, along with Confederación Argentina de Hockey and even some of the most representative players. This is slightly different from the original, showing the lioness' tail pretending to be a hockey stick while holding a ball.[3]

The nickname also falls in line with an unwritten Argentine tradition of naming national teams after big cats: the men's field hockey team is called Los Leones ("The Lions"), the men's rugby union team is called Los Pumas ("The Pumas"), and the women's volleyball team is known as Las Panteras ("The Panthers").

Tournament records

World Cup[4]
YearHost cityPosition
1974 Mandelieu, France2nd
1976 Berlin, West Germany2nd
1978 Madrid, Spain3rd
1981 Buenos Aires, Argentina6th
1983 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia9th
1986 Amsterdam, Netherlands7th
1990 Sydney, Australia9th
1994 Dublin, Ireland2nd
1998 Utrecht, Netherlands4th
2002 Perth, Australia1st
2006 Madrid, Spain3rd
2010 Rosario, Argentina1st
2014 The Hague, Netherlands3rd
2018 London, England7th
2022 Terrassa, Spain
Amstelveen, Netherlands
2nd
2026 Wavre, Belgium
Amstelveen, Netherlands
TBQ
Pan American Cup[5]
YearHost cityPosition
2001 Kingston, Jamaica1st
2004 Bridgetown, Barbados1st
2009 Hamilton, Bermuda1st
2013 Mendoza, Argentina1st
2017 Lancaster, United States1st
2022 Santiago, Chile1st
2025 Montevideo, UruguayTBQ
South American Championship[6]
YearHost cityPosition
2003 Santiago, Chile1st
2008 Montevideo, Uruguay1st
2010 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil1st
2013 Santiago, Chile1st
Olympic Games[7]
YearHost cityPosition
1980 Moscow, Soviet UnionN/A
1988 Seoul, South Korea7th
1996 Atlanta, United States7th
2000 Sydney, Australia2nd
2004 Athens, Greece3rd
2008 Beijing, China3rd
2012 London, United Kingdom2nd
2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil7th
2020 Tokyo, Japan2nd
2024 Paris, France3rd
Pan American Games[8]
YearHost cityPosition
1987 Indianapolis, United States1st
1991 Havana, Cuba1st
1995 Mar del Plata, Argentina1st
1999 Winnipeg, Canada1st
2003 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic1st
2007 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil1st
2011 Guadalajara, Mexico2nd
2015 Toronto, Canada2nd
2019 Lima, Peru1st
2023 Santiago, Chile1st
South American Games
YearHost cityPosition
2006 Buenos Aires, Argentina1st
2014 Santiago, Chile1st
2018 Cochabamba, Bolivia1st
2022 Asunción, Paraguay2nd
Pro League[9]
YearFinal host cityPosition
2019 Amstelveen, Netherlands4th
2020–212nd
2021–221st
2022–232nd
2023–243rd
2024–25Qualified
World League[10]
YearFinal host cityPosition
2012–13 San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina4th
2014–15 Rosario, Argentina1st
2016–17 Auckland, New Zealand5th
Champions Trophy[11]
YearHost cityPosition
1995 Mar del Plata, Argentina6th
1999 Brisbane, Australia4th
2000 Amstelveen, Netherlands4th
2001 Amstelveen, Netherlands1st
2002 Macau, China2nd
2003 Sydney, Australia4th
2004 Rosario, Argentina3rd
2005 Canberra, Australia4th
2006 Amstelveen, Netherlands4th
2007 Quilmes, Argentina2nd
2008 Mönchengladbach, Germany1st
2009 Sydney, Australia1st
2010 Nottingham, England1st
2011 Amstelveen, Netherlands2nd
2012 Rosario, Argentina1st
2014 Mendoza, Argentina1st
2016 London, United Kingdom1st
2018 Changzhou, China3rd

Players

See main article: Argentina women's national field hockey squad records.

Current squad

The following players were called to play at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Players, caps and goals updated as of 9 August 2024.

Head coach: Fernando Ferrara

Recent call-ups

These players were called up in the last 12 months.

Past players

Not in use jersey numbers

When Luciana Aymar (eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award winner and regarded as the best player in the history of the sport),[13] retired from the national team in 2014 after 376 international matches played, some of Aymar's teammates (such as Carla Rebecchi[14] [15]) asked the Confederation for the retirement of her iconic number 8 worn by her during 17 years with the national team.[16] Nevertheless, the number is not officially retired by the CAH, although it has not been assigned to other players since.

Captains

width=100px Periodwidth=150px Captainwidth=150px Vice-captain
1997–2002Karina MasottaMagdalena Aicega
2003–2005Magdalena AicegaCecilia Rognoni
2006–2008Luciana Aymar
2009–2014Luciana AymarRosario Luchetti
2014–2015Macarena RodríguezCarla Rebecchi
2015–2017Carla RebecchiBelén Succi
2017–2019Belén SucciDelfina Merino
2019–2020Rosario LuchettiSilvina D'Elía
Carla Rebecchi
2021Noel BarrionuevoDelfina Merino
2022Agostina Alonso
Delfina Merino
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze
2023-PresentAgostina Alonso
María José Granatto
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze

Coaches

width=100px Periodwidth=200px Name
1986–1991Miguel MacCormik
1991–1997Rodolfo Mendoza
1997–2004Sergio Vigil
2004–2009Gabriel Minadeo
2009–2012Carlos Retegui
2012–2013Marcelo Garraffo
2013Emanuel Roggero
2013–2014Carlos Retegui (2nd cycle)
2014–2015Santiago Capurro
2015–2017Gabriel Minadeo (2nd cycle)
2017–2018Agustín Corradini
2018–2021Carlos Retegui (3rd cycle)
2021–presentFernando Ferrara

Honours

Since its breakthrough in the 2000 Summer Olympics (where the team nicknamed "Las Leonas" for the first time),[17] Argentina has won more than 20 official titles, which are detailed below:

See also

Notes

External links

Notes and References

  1. History of the Argentine Hockey Confederation
  2. Interview with Inés Arrondo by DeporTEA Press, 10 August 2010.
  3. Web site: 90+10 Empresas: Adidas presentó el nuevo logo de las Leonas . 21 November 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110706074942/http://www.90mas10.com.ar/empresas/2006/09/adidas-present-el-nuevo-logo-de-las_29.html . 6 July 2011 . es., 29 September 2006.
  4. Web site: Home – FIH.
  5. Web site: Pan American Cups. 13 September 2012. 24 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181224171147/http://www.panamhockey.org/en/panamcups. dead.
  6. Web site: South American Championships. 13 September 2012. 2 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180902174830/http://www.panamhockey.org/en/southam. dead.
  7. Web site: Home – FIH.
  8. Web site: Pan American Games. 13 September 2012. 2 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181202101847/http://www.panamhockey.org/en/panamgames. dead.
  9. Web site: FIH confirms Spain men and Belgium women join Hockey Pro League. FIH.
  10. Web site: Home – FIH.
  11. Web site: Home – FIH.
  12. https://www.laprensa.com.ar/A-Magui-Aicega-le-llego-la-hora-del-adios-tras-15-anos-de-exitos-323784.note.aspx A Magui Aicega le llegó la hora del adiós tras 15 años de éxitos
  13. https://www.cahockey.org.ar/luciana-aymar Luciana Aymar profile
  14. https://www.rosario3.com/noticias/Piden-retirar-la-camiseta-N-8-de-Luciana-Aymar-20141208-0037.html Piden retirar la camiseta Nº 8 de Luciana Aymar
  15. https://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201412/88101-hockey-leonas-champions-trophy-aymar.html Rebecchi pidió retirar la camiseta número 8 de Luciana Aymar
  16. http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201412/88101-hockey-leonas-champions-trophy-aymar.html Rebecchi pidió retirar la camiseta número 8
  17. http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1307537-el-nacimiento-de-las-leonas "El nacimiento de Las Leonas", CanchaLlena, 24 September 2010
  18. http://old.clarin.com.ar/diario/2000/09/30/d-213435.htm "Igual son de oro", Clarín, 30 September 2000
  19. http://www.clarin.com/mision-olimpica/Leonas-van-oro-falta_0_752924850.html "Las Leonas perdieron y tuvieron que conformarse con la de plata" by Sabrina Faija, Clarín, 12 August 2012
  20. Web site: "Las Leonas son campeonas mundiales y un verdadero orgullo de la Argentina", Los Andes, 11 September 2010 . 11 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100919135640/http://www.losandes.com.ar/notas/2010/9/11/leonas-campeonas-mundiales-verdadero-orgullo-argentina-514161.asp . 19 September 2010 . dead .