Argentina women's national field hockey team

Argentina
Nickname(s)	Las Leonas (The Lionesses)
Association	Confederación Argentina de Hockey (CAH)
Confederation	PAHF (Americas)
Head Coach	Fernando Ferrara
Assistant coach(es)	Mario Almada; 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)
Home	Away
FIH ranking
Current	3 (14 October 2023)[1]
Highest	1st (2003 – 2010 – 2011)
Lowest	4 (2018)
Olympic Games
Appearances	8 (first in 1988)
Best result	2nd (2000, 2012, 2020)
World Cup
Appearances	15 (first in 1974)
Best result	1st (2002, 2010)
Pan American Games
Appearances	9 (first in 1987)
Best result	1st (1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2019)
Pan American Cup
Appearances	6 (first in 2001)
Best result	1st (2001, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2022)
Medal record
Olympic Games
World Cup
Panamerican Cup
Champions Trophy
World League

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.

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.[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").

Tournament records

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

Olympic Games[8]
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
2020	Tokyo, Japan	2nd
2024	Paris, France	TBQ

Pan American Games[9]
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 Games[7]
Year	Host city	Position
2006	Buenos Aires, Argentina	1st
2014	Santiago, Chile	1st
2018	Cochabamba, Bolivia	1st
2022	Asunción, Paraguay	2nd

Pro League[10]
Year	Final host city	Position
2019	Amstelveen, Netherlands	4th
2020–21	N/A	2nd
2021–22	N/A	1st
2022–23	N/A	2nd
2023–24	N/A	Qualified

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

Current squad

The following players were called to compete at the 2023 Pan American Games between October 26th and November 4th in Santiago, Chile.

Players, caps and goals updated as of 26 Octomber 2023.

Head coach: Fernando Ferrara

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
13	1GK	Cristina Cosentino	(1997-12-22) 22 December 1997	30		Banco Nación
14	1GK	Clara Barberi	(1992-04-19) 19 April 1992	19		Lomas

3	2DF	Agustina Gorzelany	(1996-03-11) 11 March 1996	96	50	San Martín
4	2DF	Valentina Raposo	(2003-01-28) 28 January 2003	36	4	River Plate
32	2DF	Valentina Costa Biondi	(1995-09-13) 13 September 1995	85	9	San Fernando
50	2DF	Juana Castellaro	(2005-03-29) 29 March 2005	5	0	River Plate

2	3MF	Sofía Toccalino	(1997-03-20) 20 March 1997	149	11	St. Catherine's
5	3MF	Agostina Alonso	(1995-10-01) 1 October 1995	137	7	Banco Nación
17	3MF	Rocío Sánchez Moccia	(1988-08-02) 2 August 1988	303	20	Puerto Nizuc
18	3MF	Victoria Sauze	(1991-07-21) 21 July 1991	131	2	River Plate
20	3MF	Sofía Cairó	(2002-10-08) 8 October 2002	15	4	Mariano Moreno
31	3MF	Valentina Marcucci (reserve)	(1998-02-21) 21 February 1998	28	0	Lomas

10	4FW	María José Granatto	(1995-04-21) 21 April 1995	185	94	Santa Bárbara
11	4FW	Delfina Thome	(1996-09-10) 10 September 1996	49	13	Liceo Rugby Club
22	4FW	Eugenia Trinchinetti	(1997-07-17) 17 July 1997	159	28	San Fernando
24	4FW	Celina di Santo (reserve)	(2000-02-23) 23 February 2000	19	1	Lomas
26	4FW	Pilar Campoy	(1990-10-06) 6 October 1990	78	21	Hacoaj
28	4FW	Julieta Jankunas	(1999-01-20) 20 January 1999	152	57	Universitario de Córdoba

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	Ana Luz Dodorico	(2000-01-06) 6 January 2000	4		GEBA	(2023-06-20)20 June 2023, v. New Zealand
GK	Lourdes Pérez Iturraspe	(2000-02-16) 16 February 2000	0		CASI	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie

DF	Lucina von der Heyde	(1997-01-28) 28 January 1997	103	9	Mannheimer HC	2023 Spain friendly matches serie
DF	Bianca Donati	(1995-06-05) 5 June 1995	40	2	Pacífico	(2023-06-17)17 June 2023, v. New Zealand
DF	Emilia Forcherio	(1995-02-16) 16 February 1995	30	5	Lomas	(2022-11-09)9 November 2022, v. Belgium
DF	Bárbara Dichiara	(1996-11-13) 13 November 1996	22	1	San Fernando	2023 Argentina Junior friendly matches serie
DF	Sol Lombardo	(1999-03-10) 10 March 1999	15	0	Italiano	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie
DF	Micaela Sirera	(2001-04-09) 9 April 2001	0	0	Italiano	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie

MF	Jimena Cedrés	(1993-01-12) 12 January 1993	125	7	Dragons	2023 Spain friendly matches serie
MF	Paula Ortiz	(1997-04-16) 16 April 1997	86	7	San Martín	2023 Spain friendly matches serie
MF	Magdalena Fernández Ladra	(1995-03-10) 10 March 1995	59	5	Old Girls	(2022-11-09)9 November 2022, v. Belgium
MF	Victoria Miranda	(2000-06-05) 5 June 2000	15	0	Ciudad	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie
MF	Catalina Andrade	(2002-02-07) 7 February 2002	10	3	Italiano	2023 Argentina Junior friendly matches serie
MF	Constanza Cerundolo	(2000-06-19) 19 June 2000	9	1	Belgrano	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie
MF	Mariana Pineda	(2001-01-03) 3 January 2001	0	0	Vélez	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie

FW	Agustina Albertario	(1993-01-01) 1 January 1993	216	61	Lomas	(2023-06-20)20 June 2023, v. New Zealand
FW	Milagros Fernández Ladra	(1997-02-27) 27 February 1997	31	9	HGC	(2022-12-18)18 December 2022, v. Great Britain
FW	Guadalupe Adorno	(2000-02-21) 21 February 2000	12	8	Quilmes	(2023-06-17)17 June 2023, v. New Zealand
FW	Gianella Palet	(2002-02-26) 26 February 2002	5	2	River Plate	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie
FW	Lucía Sanguinetti	(1995-10-30) 30 October 1995	5	0	San Fernando	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie
FW	Alina Piccardo	(1997-06-03) 3 June 1997	3	2	San Fernando	(2023-06-17)17 June 2023, v. New Zealand
FW	Carolina Carrizo	(1997-03-11) 11 March 1997	0	0	SAG	2023 Argentina Junior friendly matches serie
FW	Juana Fajardo	(1998-03-25) 25 March 1998	0	0	Lomas	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie
FW	Victoria Manuele	(2001-05-04) 4 May 2001	0	0	Santa Bárbara	2023 Uruguay friendly matches serie

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[13][14]

When Luciana Aymar (eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award winner and regarded as the best player in the history of the sport),[15][13][14] 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.[16] 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	Magdalena Aicega	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	Agostina Alonso Rocío Sánchez Moccia Victoria Sauze María José Granatto

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

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:

Summer Olympics:
- Silver medal: Sydney 2000,[18] London 2012,[19] Tokyo 2020
- Bronze medal: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008
World Cup: 2002, 2010[20]
FIH Pro League: 2021–22
FIH Hockey World League: 2014–15
Champions Trophy: 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016
Pan American Cup: 2001, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2022
Pan American Games: 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2019
South American Championship: 2003, 2008, 2010, 2013
South American Games: 2006, 2014, 2018

Gallery

Mariné Russo in a match against Australia in 2005
Mercedes Margalot in a match against Nederlands in 2005
Celebrating their win after the 2010 Champions Trophy final.
The 2010 World Champion squad
Champions Trophy winners in 2016

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

"FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings". FIH. 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
(in Spanish) History of the Argentine Hockey Confederation Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
(in Spanish) Interview with Inés Arrondo Archived 19 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine by DeporTEA Press, 10 August 2010.
"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.
"Home – FIH".
"Pan American Cups". Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
"South American Championships". Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
"Home – FIH".
"Pan American Games". Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
"FIH confirms Spain men and Belgium women join Hockey Pro League". FIH.
"Home – FIH".
"Home – FIH".
Top 10 greatest field hockey players, The Telegraph, 5 January 2015
It's all about Aymar by Melina Gaspar, on The Hockey Family, 10 August 2017
Luciana Aymar profile on CAH website
Rebecchi pidió retirar la camiseta número 8, Télam, 8 December 2014
"El nacimiento de Las Leonas", CanchaLlena, 24 September 2010
"Igual son de oro", Clarín, 30 September 2000
"Las Leonas perdieron y tuvieron que conformarse con la de plata" by Sabrina Faija, Clarín, 12 August 2012
""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.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[FIH_Women's_World_Rankings-1] "FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings". FIH. 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.

[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.

[sac-7] "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".

[teleg-13] Top 10 greatest field hockey players, The Telegraph, 5 January 2015

[allabout-14] It's all about Aymar by Melina Gaspar, on The Hockey Family, 10 August 2017

[15] Luciana Aymar profile on CAH website

[16] Rebecchi pidió retirar la camiseta número 8, Télam, 8 December 2014

[17] "El nacimiento de Las Leonas", CanchaLlena, 24 September 2010

[18] "Igual son de oro", Clarín, 30 September 2000

[19] "Las Leonas perdieron y tuvieron que conformarse con la de plata" by Sabrina Faija, Clarín, 12 August 2012

[20] ""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.