Wikipedia

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)Santiago Capurro
Alejandra Gulla
ManagerMaría Villalba
CaptainAgostina Alonso
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze
Most capsLuciana Aymar (376)
Top scorerNoel Barrionuevo (185)
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away
FIH ranking
Current 2 Steady (19 December 2024)[1]
Highest1st (2003 – 2010 – 2011)
Lowest4 (2018)
Olympic Games
Appearances9 (first in 1988)
Best result2nd (2000, 2012, 2020)
World Cup
Appearances15 (first in 1974)
Best result1st (2002, 2010)
Pan American Games
Appearances9 (first in 1987)
Best result1st (1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2019, 2023)
Pan American Cup
Appearances6 (first in 2001)
Best result1st (2001, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2022)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Team
Silver medal – second place 2012 London Team
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2002 Perth
Gold medal – first place 2010 Rosario
Silver medal – second place 1974 Mandelieu
Silver medal – second place 1976 West Berlin
Silver medal – second place 1994 Dublin
Silver medal – second place 2022 Terrassa-Amstelveen
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Madrid
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Madrid
Bronze medal – third place 2014 The Hague
Panamerican Cup
Gold medal – first place 2001 Kingston
Gold medal – first place 2004 Bridgetown
Gold medal – first place 2009 Hamilton
Gold medal – first place 2013 Mendoza
Gold medal – first place 2017 Lancaster
Gold medal – first place 2022 Santiago
Champions Trophy
Gold medal – first place 2001 Amstelveen
Gold medal – first place 2008 Mönchengladbach
Gold medal – first place 2009 Sydney
Gold medal – first place 2010 Nottingham
Gold medal – first place 2012 Rosario
Gold medal – first place 2014 Mendoza
Gold medal – first place 2016 London
Silver medal – second place 2002 Macau
Silver medal – second place 2007 Quilmes
Silver medal – second place 2011 Amsterdam
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Rosario
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Changzhou
World League
Gold medal – first place 2014–15 Rosario

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

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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

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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").

Tournament records

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World Cup[5]
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 		2nd
2026   Wavre, Belgium
  Amstelveen, Netherlands 		TBQ
Pan American Cup[6]
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
2025   Montevideo, Uruguay TBQ
South American Championship[7]
Year Host city Position
2003   Santiago, Chile 1st
2008   Montevideo, Uruguay 1st
2010   Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st
2013   Santiago, Chile 1st
World League[11]
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[12]
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

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

Current squad

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The following players were called to play at the Pro League window between December 10th and 15th against Netherlands and Germany in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

Players, caps and goals updated as of 15 December 2024.

Head coach: Fernando Ferrara

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
13 1GK Cristina Cosentino (1997-12-22) 22 December 1997 (age 26) 51   Royal Victory HC
40 1GK Mercedes Artola (2006-01-16) 16 January 2006 (age 18) 1   St. Matthew's College
2 2DF Sofía Toccalino (1997-03-20) 20 March 1997 (age 27) 183 12   Real Sociedad
3 2DF Agustina Gorzelany (1996-03-11) 11 March 1996 (age 28) 128 77   AH&BC
4 2DF Valentina Raposo (2003-01-28) 28 January 2003 (age 21) 63 9   Gazellen-Combinatie
20 2DF Sofía Cairó (2002-10-08) 8 October 2002 (age 22) 39 4   Mariano Moreno
35 2DF Valentina Ferola (2003-09-24) 24 September 2003 (age 21) 2 0   Italiano
38 2DF Chiara Ambrosini (2006-11-02) 2 November 2006 (age 18) 2 0   Ferro
43 2DF Emma Knobl (2005-10-27) 27 October 2005 (age 19) 1 0   Lomas
5 3MF Agostina Alonso (1995-10-01) 1 October 1995 (age 29) 169 7   Banco Nación
22 3MF Eugenia Trinchinetti (1997-07-17) 17 July 1997 (age 27) 191 39   Real Sociedad
25 3MF Juana Castellaro (2005-03-29) 29 March 2005 (age 19) 33 1   River Plate
29 3MF Victoria Miranda (2000-06-05) 5 June 2000 (age 24) 25 1   Ciudad
31 3MF Valentina Marcucci (1998-02-21) 21 February 1998 (age 26) 35 0   Lomas
34 3MF Victoria Falasco (2004-04-01) 1 April 2004 (age 20) 2 0   GEBA
45 3MF Catalina Andrade (2002-02-07) 7 February 2002 (age 22) 18 3   Italiano
10 4FW María José Granatto (1995-04-21) 21 April 1995 (age 29) 222 106   Junior 1917
28 4FW Julieta Jankunas (1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 (age 25) 182 69   Club Egara
30 4FW Paula Santamarina (2002-08-27) 27 August 2002 (age 22) 2 0   River Plate
33 4FW Zoe Díaz (2006-06-05) 5 June 2006 (age 18) 18 3   Italiano
34 4FW Catalina Alimenti (2002-12-30) 30 December 2002 (age 21) 1 0   GEBA
46 4FW Lourdes Pisthon (2007-12-27) 27 December 2007 (age 16) 3 0   Banco Nación
50 4FW Emilia Larsen (2002-04-12) 12 April 2002 (age 22) 2 1   Club Atlético Monte Hermoso
60 4FW Brisa Bruggesser (2002-07-25) 25 July 2002 (age 22) 3 2   Ciudad

Recent call-ups

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These players were called up in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Clara Barberi (1992-04-19) 19 April 1992 (age 32) 30   Lomas (2024-06-02)2 June 2024, v.   China
GK Ana Luz Dodorico (2000-01-06) 6 January 2000 (age 24) 4   GEBA 2024 United States friendly matches serie
DF Bárbara Dichiara (1996-11-13) 13 November 1996 (age 28) 29 1   Club Atlético Monte Hermoso (2024-02-19)19 February 2024, v.   Germany
DF Stefanía Antoniazzi (1999-10-18) 18 October 1999 (age 25) 10 1   RC Polo Barcelona (2024-05-30)30 May 2024, v.   Germany
MF Rocío Sánchez Moccia (1988-08-02) 2 August 1988 (age 36) 328 21   Puerto Nizuc (2024-08-09)9 August 2024, v.   Belgium
MF Victoria Sauze (1991-07-21) 21 July 1991 (age 33) 154 5   Atletic Terrassa (2024-08-09)9 August 2024, v.   Belgium
MF Pilar Campoy (1990-10-06) 6 October 1990 (age 34) 107 24   Hacoaj (2024-08-09)9 August 2024, v.   Belgium
FW Agustina Albertario (1993-01-01) 1 January 1993 (age 31) 235 64   Lomas (2024-08-09)9 August 2024, v.   Belgium
FW Delfina Thome (1996-09-10) 10 September 1996 (age 28) 61 18   Flottbeck (2024-06-02)2 June 2024, v.   China
FW Celina di Santo (2000-02-23) 23 February 2000 (age 24) 26 3   KMTHC Mechelen (2024-05-26)26 May 2024, v.   India
FW Lara Casas (2004-06-22) 22 June 2004 (age 20) 17 2   Italiano (2024-08-09)9 August 2024, v.   Belgium
FW Victoria Manuele (2001-05-04) 4 May 2001 (age 23) 9 1   KMTHC Mechelen (2024-06-01)1 June 2024, v.   Australia
FW Carolina Carrizo (1997-03-10) 10 March 1997 (age 27) 2 0   SAG 2024 United States friendly matches serie

Past players

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Not in use jersey numbers

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Luciana Aymar, eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award, considered as the best female hockey player of all time[14][15]

When Luciana Aymar (eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award winner and regarded as the best player in the history of the sport),[16][14][15] retired from the national team in 2014 after 376 international matches played, some of Aymar's teammates (such as Carla Rebecchi[17][18]) asked the Confederation for the retirement of her iconic number 8 worn by her during 17 years with the national team.[19] Nevertheless, the number is not officially retired by the CAH, although it has not been assigned to other players since.

Captains

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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 Agostina Alonso
Delfina Merino
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze
2023–2024 Agostina Alonso
María José Granatto
Rocío Sánchez Moccia
Victoria Sauze
2024-Present Agostina Alonso
María José Granatto

Coaches

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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

Honours

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

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See also

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Notes

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  • 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

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  1. ^ "FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings". FIH. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  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. ^ "90+10 Empresas: Adidas presentó el nuevo logo de las Leonas" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2010., 29 September 2006.
  5. ^ "Home – FIH".
  6. ^ "Pan American Cups". Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  7. ^ a b "South American Championships". Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Home – FIH".
  9. ^ "Pan American Games". Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  10. ^ "FIH confirms Spain men and Belgium women join Hockey Pro League". FIH.
  11. ^ "Home – FIH".
  12. ^ "Home – FIH".
  13. ^ A Magui Aicega le llegó la hora del adiós tras 15 años de éxitos on La Prensa, 22 Aug 2008
  14. ^ a b Top 10 greatest field hockey players, The Telegraph, 5 January 2015
  15. ^ a b It's all about Aymar by Melina Gaspar, on The Hockey Family, 10 August 2017
  16. ^ Luciana Aymar profile on CAH website
  17. ^ Piden retirar la camiseta Nº 8 de Luciana Aymar on Rosario3, 8 Dec 2014
  18. ^ Rebecchi pidió retirar la camiseta número 8 de Luciana Aymar on Télam, 8 Dec 2014
  19. ^ Rebecchi pidió retirar la camiseta número 8, Télam, 8 December 2014
  20. ^ "El nacimiento de Las Leonas", CanchaLlena, 24 September 2010
  21. ^ "Igual son de oro", Clarín, 30 September 2000
  22. ^ "Las Leonas perdieron y tuvieron que conformarse con la de plata" by Sabrina Faija, Clarín, 12 August 2012
  23. ^ ""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.
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