Argentina women's national field hockey team

The Argentina women's national field hockey team (Spanish: Selección femenina de hockey sobre césped de Argentina) 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.

Argentina
Nickname(s)Las Leonas (The Lionesses)
AssociationConfederación Argentina de Hockey (CAH)
ConfederationPAHF (Americas)
Head CoachFernando Ferrara
Assistant coach(es)Mario Almada and Alejandra Gulla
ManagerVictoria Villalba
CaptainAgostina Alonso
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze
Most capsLuciana Aymar (376)
Top scorerNoel Barrionuevo (185)
Home
Away
FIH ranking
Current 2 (4 April 2022)[1]
Highest1st (2003 – 2010 – 2011)
Lowest4 (2018)
Olympic Games
Appearances7 (first in 1988)
Best result2nd (2000, 2012, 2020)
World Cup
Appearances14 (first in 1974)
Best result1st (2002, 2010)
Pan American Games
Appearances9 (first in 1987)
Best result1st (1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2019)
Pan American Cup
Appearances6 (first in 2001)
Best result1st (2001, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2022)
Olympic medal record
2000 SydneyTeam
2004 AthensTeam
2008 BeijingTeam
2012 LondonTeam
2020 TokyoTeam

Las Leonas (The Lionesses) have appeared in five 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]

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").

Honours

Since its breakthrough in the 2000 Summer Olympics (where the team nicknamed "Las Leonas"' for the first time),[5] Argentina has won more than 20 official titles, which are detailed below:

Champions Trophy winners in 2016

Tournament records
World Cup[9]
Year Host city Position
1974 Mandelieu, France 2nd
1976 Berlin, West Germany 2nd
1978 Madrid, Spain 3rd
1981 Buenos Aires, Argentina 6th
1983 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 9th
1986 Amsterdam, Netherlands 7th
1990 Sydney, Australia 9th
1994 Dublin, Ireland 2nd
1998 Utrecht, Netherlands 4th
2002 Perth, Australia 1st
2006 Madrid, Spain 3rd
2010 Rosario, Argentina 1st
2014 The Hague, Netherlands 3rd
2018 London, England 7th
2022 Terrassa, Spain
Amstelveen, Netherlands		 Qualified
Pan American Cup[10]
Year Host city Position
2001 Kingston, Jamaica 1st
2004 Bridgetown, Barbados 1st
2009 Hamilton, Bermuda 1st
2013 Mendoza, Argentina 1st
2017 Lancaster, United States 1st
2022 Santiago, Chile 1st
Pan American Games[11]
Year Host city Position
1987 Indianapolis, United States 1st
1991 Havana, Cuba 1st
1995 Mar del Plata, Argentina 1st
1999 Winnipeg, Canada 1st
2003 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1st
2007 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st
2011 Guadalajara, Mexico 2nd
2015 Toronto, Canada 2nd
2019 Lima, Peru 1st
2023 Santiago, Chile TBD
South American Championship / South American Games[12]
Year Host city Position
2003 Santiago, Chile 1st
2006 Buenos Aires, Argentina 1st
2008 Montevideo, Uruguay 1st
2010 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st
2013 Santiago, Chile 1st
2014 Santiago, Chile 1st
2018 Cochabamba, Bolivia 1st
2022 Asunción, Paraguay Qualified
Olympic Games[13]
Year Host city Position
1980 Moscow, Soviet Union N/A
1988 Seoul, South Korea 7th
1996 Atlanta, United States 7th
2000 Sydney, Australia 2nd
2004 Athens, Greece 3rd
2008 Beijing, China 3rd
2012 London, United Kingdom 2nd
2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7th
2021 Tokyo, Japan 2nd
Pro League[14]
Year Final host city Position
2019 Amstelveen, Netherlands 4th
2020–21 N/A 2nd
2021–22 N/A TBD
2022–23 N/A Qualified
World League[15]
Year Final host city Position
2012–13 San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina 4th
2014–15 Rosario, Argentina 1st
2016–17 Auckland, New Zealand 5th
Champions Trophy[16]
Year Host city Position
1995 Mar del Plata, Argentina 6th
1999 Brisbane, Australia 4th
2000 Amstelveen, Netherlands 4th
2001 Amstelveen, Netherlands 1st
2002 Macau, China 2nd
2003 Sydney, Australia 4th
2004 Rosario, Argentina 3rd
2005 Canberra, Australia 4th
2006 Amstelveen, Netherlands 4th
2007 Quilmes, Argentina 2nd
2008 Mönchengladbach, Germany 1st
2009 Sydney, Australia 1st
2010 Nottingham, England 1st
2011 Amstelveen, Netherlands 2nd
2012 Rosario, Argentina 1st
2014 Mendoza, Argentina 1st
2016 London, United Kingdom 1st
2018 Changzhou, China 3rd

Players
Main article: Argentina women's national field hockey squad records

Current squad

The following players were called to play the sixth match of the Pro League against United States in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 16th April 2022.[17]

Players, caps and goals updated as of 17 April 2022.

Head coach: Fernando Ferrara

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
13 1GK Cristina Cosentino (1997-12-22) 22 December 1997 20 Banco Nación
14 1GK Clara Barberi (1992-04-19) 19 April 1992 4 Lomas
2 2DF Sofía Toccalino (1997-03-20) 20 March 1997 111 7 Royal
32 2DF Valentina Costa Biondi (1995-09-13) 13 September 1995 54 4 San Fernando
40 2DF Emilia Forcherio (1995-02-16) 16 February 1995 10 0 Lomas
44 2DF Sol Lombardo (1999-03-10) 10 March 1999 3 0 Italiano
5 3MF Agostina Alonso (1995-10-01) 1 October 1995 107 6 Banco Nación
17 3MF Rocío Sánchez Moccia © (1988-08-02) 2 August 1988 265 19 Liceo Naval
18 3MF Victoria Sauze (1991-07-21) 21 July 1991 101 2 River Plate
22 3MF Eugenia Trinchinetti (1997-07-17) 17 July 1997 121 17 San Fernando
30 3MF Martina Triñanes (1996-03-26) 26 March 1996 4 1 Lomas
31 3MF Valentina Marcucci (1998-02-21) 21 February 1998 4 0 Lomas
9 4FW Delfina Merino (1989-10-15) 15 October 1989 306 96 Banco Provincia
7 4FW Agustina Albertario (1993-01-01) 1 January 1993 186 55 Lomas
10 4FW María José Granatto (1995-04-21) 21 April 1995 152 80 Santa Bárbara
21 4FW Victoria Granatto (1991-04-09) 9 April 1991 36 11 Santa Bárbara
28 4FW Julieta Jankunas (1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 112 47 Ciudad
39 4FW Delfina Thome (1996-09-10) 10 September 1996 18 2 Liceo Rugby Club

Recent call-ups

These players were called-up in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Belén Succi (1985-10-16) 16 October 1985 255 River Plate (2022-04-16)16 April 2022, v.  United States
DF Noel Barrionuevo (1984-05-16) 16 May 1984 345 185 (2021-08-06)6 August 2021, v.  Netherlands
DF Agustina Gorzelany (1996-03-11) 11 March 1996 71 30 Taburiente (2022-02-20)20 February 2022, v.  England
DF Bárbara Dichiara (1996-11-13) 13 November 1996 16 1 Monte Hermoso (2022-02-19)19 February 2022, v.  England
DF Valentina Raposo (2003-01-28) 28 January 2003 16 2 River Plate (2022-02-19)19 February 2022, v.  England
MF Jimena Cedrés (1993-01-12) 12 January 1993 99 6 Dragons (2022-02-20)20 February 2022, v.  England
MF Sofía Maccari (1984-07-04) 4 July 1984 60 3 (2021-07-31)31 July 2021, v.  Australia
MF Micaela Retegui (1996-04-23) 23 April 1996 55 6 San Fernando (2022-04-16)16 April 2022, v.  United States
FW Celina di Santo (2000-02-23) 23 February 2000 19 1 Lomas (2022-02-19)19 February 2022, v.  England
FW Daiana Pacheco (2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 2 0 River Plate (2022-02-20)20 February 2022, v.  England

Past players

Not in use jersey numbers
Luciana Aymar, eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award, considered as the best female hockey player of all time[18][19]

When Luciana Aymar (eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award winner and regarded as the best player in the history of the sport),[20][18][19] retired from the national team in 2014 after 376 international matches played, some of Aymar's teammates (such as Carla Rebecchi) asked the Confederation for the retirement of her iconic number 8 worn by her during 17 years with the national team.[21] Nevertheless, the number is not officially retired by the CAH, although it has not been assigned to other players since.

Captains
Period Captain Vice-captain
1997–2002 Karina Masotta Magdalena Aicega
2003–2005 Magdalena Aicega Cecilia Rognoni
2006–2008 Luciana Aymar
2009–2014 Luciana Aymar Rosario Luchetti
2014–2015 Macarena Rodríguez Carla Rebecchi
2015–2017 Carla Rebecchi Belén Succi
2017–2019 Belén Succi Delfina Merino
2019–2020 Rosario Luchetti Silvina D'Elía
Carla Rebecchi
2021 Noel Barrionuevo Delfina Merino
2022–Present Agostina Alonso
Delfina Merino
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze

Coaches
Sergio Vigil, with whom Las Leonas won 7 titles and 2 Olympic medals.
Period Name
1986–1991 Miguel MacCormik
1991–1997 Rodolfo Mendoza
1997–2004 Sergio Vigil
2004–2009 Gabriel Minadeo
2009–2012 Carlos Retegui
2012–2013 Marcelo Garraffo
2013 Emanuel Roggero
2013–2014 Carlos Retegui (2nd cycle)
2014–2015 Santiago Capurro
2015–2017 Gabriel Minadeo (2nd cycle)
2017–2018 Agustín Corradini
2018–2021 Carlos Retegui (3rd cycle)
2021–Present Fernando Ferrara

See also

Notes
  • The team alternates between light blue and black skirt/socks when using their main kit, even during the same tournament, apparently arbitrarily. For example, during the 2010 World Cup, see photos from Day 1 (black), Day 3 (light blue) and Day 6 (black).

References
  1. "FIH Men's and Women's World Ranking". FIH. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  2. (in Spanish) History of the Argentine Hockey Confederation Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. (in Spanish) Interview with Inés Arrondo Archived 19 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine by DeporTEA Press, 10 August 2010.
  4. "Archived copy" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), 29 September 2006.
  5. "El nacimiento de Las Leonas", CanchaLlena, 24 September 2010
  6. "Igual son de oro", Clarín, 30 September 2000
  7. "Las Leonas perdieron y tuvieron que conformarse con la de plata" by Sabrina Faija, Clarín, 12 August 2012
  8. ""Las Leonas son campeonas mundiales y un verdadero orgullo de la Argentina", Los Andes, 11 September 2010". Archived from the original on 19 September 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  9. "Home – FIH".
  10. "Pan American Cups".
  11. "Pan American Games".
  12. "South American Championships".
  13. "Home – FIH".
  14. "FIH confirms Spain men and Belgium women join Hockey Pro League". FIH.
  15. "Home – FIH".
  16. "Home – FIH".
  17. "Match 17 Pro League".
  18. Top 10 greatest field hockey players, The Telegraph, 5 Jan 2015
  19. It's all about Aymar by Melina Gaspar, on The Hockey Family, 10 Aug 2017
  20. Luciana Aymar profile on CAH website
  21. Rebecchi pidió retirar la camiseta número 8, Télam, 8 Dec 2014
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