Argentina women's national field hockey team

Argentina
Nickname	Las Leonas (The Lionesses)
Association	Confederación Argentina de Hockey (CAH)
Confederation	PAHF (Americas)
Coach	Gabriel Minadeo
Assistant coach	Agustín Corradini Martín Berthold Matías Vila
Manager	Gabriela Pando
Captain	Carla Rebecchi
Most caps	Luciana Aymar (376)
Top scorer	Noel Barrionuevo (165)
FIH ranking	2
First kit Second kit

Olympic medal record
Field hockey
	2000 Sydney	Team
	2004 Athens	Team
	2008 Beijing	Team
	2012 London	Team

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

The governing body is the Argentine Hockey Confederation (CAH). The current coach is Gabriel Minadeo, who was appointed after the resignation of Santiago Capurro in October 2015, and the team is currently second in the FIH World Rankings since December 2015 after winning the 2014–15 World League.^[1]

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 managers 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 Champions Trophy, they have won the tournament five more times. In front of a home crowd they won the 2014–15 World League as the first international title after Aymar's retirement from the national team.

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 every time 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 World Rankings 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 in 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

The Lionesses emblem.

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 rugby union team is called Los Pumas ("The Pumas"), and the women's volleyball team is known as Las Panteras ("The Panthers").

Players

Current squad

The following players were called to compete at five test matches in Europe, two against Belgium and three against Germany, that were held between 19–27 April 2016 in Auderghem, Belgium and Cologne, Germany.^[5]

Head Coach: Gabriel Minadeo

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	GK	Belén Succi	16 October 1985	142	San Isidro Club
31	GK	Florencia Mutio	20 November 1984	28	San Fernando
3	DF	Victoria Zuloaga	14 February 1989	33	Mar del Plata Club
14	DF	Agustina Habif	8 March 1992	51	GEBA
26	DF	Paula Ortiz	16 April 1997	15	San Martín
27	DF	Noel Barrionuevo	16 May 1984	244	Ciudad de Buenos Aires
29	DF	Julia Gomes Fantasia	30 April 1992	64	GEBA
6	MF	Jimena Cedrés	12 January 1993	35	San Fernando
9	MF	Carla Dupuy	18 September 1988	71	GEBA
16	MF	Florencia Habif	22 August 1993	111	Pinoké
17	MF	Rocío Sánchez Moccia	2 August 1988	142	Liceo Naval
20	MF	Lucina Von der Heyde	24 January 1997	0	River Plate
23	MF	Pilar Campoy	6 October 1990	10	Club Náutico Hacoaj
7	FW	Martina Cavallero	7 May 1990	125	Hurling Club
11	FW	Carla Rebecchi (c)	7 September 1984	251	Ciudad de Buenos Aires
12	FW	Delfina Merino	15 October 1989	194	Banco Provincia
15	FW	María José Granatto	21 April 1995	6	Santa Bárbara
19	FW	Agustina Albertario	1 January 1993	64	Lomas Athletic Club

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
13	GK	Laura Aladro	17 January 1983	73	River Plate
32	GK	Mariana Scandura	2 May 1994	1	Club Tacurú
2	DF	Sofía Toccalino	20 March 1997	21	St. Catherine's
24	DF	Claudia Burkart	22 February 1980	113	CASI
4	MF	Eugenia Trinchinetti	17 July 1997	4	San Fernando
5	MF	Macarena Rodríguez	10 June 1978	169	River Plate
18	MF	Pilar Romang	9 July 1992	57	Ciudad de Buenos Aires
30	MF	Josefina Sruoga	23 August 1990	163	GEBA
20	FW	Luciana Molina	20 September 1994	31	Marista Rugby Club
22	FW	Giselle Juárez	5 May 1991	64	Club Atlético Monte Hermoso
25	FW	Gabriela Aguirre	19 February 1986	39	Banco Provincia
28	FW	Julieta Jankunas	20 January 1999	0	Universitario de Córdoba

Past players

• Magdalena Aicega - Yet active
• Laura Aladro
• Mariela Antoniska - Yet active
• Inés Arrondo
• Luciana Aymar
• Moira Brinnand
• Victoria Carbó
• Julieta Castellán
• Laura del Colle - Yet active
• María Colombo
• Silvia Corvalán
• Silvina D'Elía - Yet active
• Marina di Giacomo - Yet active
• María Paz Ferrari
• Andrea Fioroni
• Anabel Gambero
• Soledad García
• Mariana González Oliva - Yet active
• Alejandra Gulla
• María de la Paz Hernández
• Marcela Hussey
• Giselle Kañevsky
• Gabriela Liz
• Marisa López
• Rosario Luchetti - Yet active
• Sofía Maccari - Yet active
• Sofía MacKenzie
• Laura Maiztegui
• Mercedes Margalot
• Karina Masotta
• Laura Mulhall
• Vanina Oneto
• Alejandra Palma
• Gabriela Pando
• María Gabriela Pazos
• Marcela Richezza
• Jorgelina Rimoldi
• Macarena Rodríguez - Yet active
• Cecilia Rognoni
• Mariana Rossi - Yet active
• Mariné Russo
• Gabriela Sánchez
• Mariela Scarone - Yet active
• Daniela Sruoga - Yet active
• Josefina Sruoga - Yet active
• Ayelén Stepnik
• María Alejandra Tucat
• Paola Vukojicic

Luciana Aymar, eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award, is considered as the best female hockey player of all time.

Not in use jersey numbers

Although not officially retired, these numbers have not been assigned to other players since then.

• 5 - Macarena Rodríguez, Midfielder, 2010-2015
• 8 - Luciana Aymar, Midfielder, 2000–2014
• 10 - Soledad García, Forward, 2003–2011
• 13 - Laura Aladro, Goalkeeper, 2005-2015
• 21 - Mariela Scarone, Defender, 2009-2015
• 30 - Josefina Sruoga, Forward, 2009-2015

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
2014–2015	Santiago Capurro
2015–Present	Gabriel Minadeo

Honours

Since its breakthrough in the 2000 Summer Olympics (where the team nicknamed "Las Leonas"' for the first time),^[6] Argentina has won more than 20 official titles, which are detailed below:

• World Cup (2): 2002, 2010^[7]
• Champions Trophy (6): 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014
• FIH Hockey World League (1): 2014-15
• South American Championship (6): 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014
• Pan American Games (6): 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007
• Pan American Cup (4): 2001, 2004, 2009, 2013
• Summer Olympics:
  • Silver medal (2): Sydney 2000,^[8] London 2012^[9]
  • Bronze medal (2): Athens 2004, Beijing 2008

Tournament records

Senior team

World Cup[10] 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 TBD Pan American Cup[11] Year Host city Position 2001 Kingston, Jamaica 1st 2004 Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 2009 Hamilton, Bermuda 1st 2013 Mendoza, Argentina 1st 2017 Lancaster, United States Qualified Pan American Games[12] 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 TBD South American Championship / South American Games[13] 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

Olympic Games[14] Year Host city Position 1980 Moscow, Soviet Union N/A 1984 Los Angeles, United States DNQ 1988 Seoul, South Korea 7th 1992 Barcelona, Spain DNQ 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 Qualified 2020 Tokyo, Japan TBD World League[15] Year Round Host city Position 2012–13 Semifinal London, England 3rd Final San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina 4th 2014–15 Semifinal Valencia, Spain 4th Final Rosario, Argentina 1st 2016–17 Semifinals Argentina Qualified Champions Trophy[16] Year Host city Position 1987 Amstelveen, Netherlands DNQ 1989 Frankfurt, West Germany DNQ 1991 Berlin, Germany DNQ 1993 Amstelveen, Netherlands DNQ 1995 Mar del Plata, Argentina 6th 1997 Berlin, Germany DNQ 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, England Qualified 2018 TBC TBC

Junior team

Junior World Cup Year Host city Position 1989 Ottawa, Canada 6th 1993 Terrassa, Spain 1st 1997 Seongnam, South Korea 3rd 2001 Buenos Aires, Argentina 2nd 2005 Santiago, Chile 5th 2009 Boston, United States 2nd 2013 Mönchengladbach, Germany 2nd 2016 Santiago, Chile Qualified Youth Olympic Games Year Host city Position 2010 Singapore 2nd 2014 Nanjing, China 3rd 2018 Buenos Aires, Argentina Qualified

Pan American Junior Championship[17] Year Host city Position 1988 Buenos Aires, Argentina 1st 1992 Caracas, Venezuela 1st 1997 Santiago, Chile 1st 2000 Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 2005 San Juan, Puerto Rico 1st 2008 Mexico City, Mexico 3rd 2012 Guadalajara, Mexico 1st 2016 Tacarigua, Trinidad and Tobago 1st Pan American Youth Championship Year Host city Position 2010 Montevideo, Uruguay 1st[18] 2014 Montevideo, Uruguay 1st

Gallery

• 

  Luciana Aymar, named "Player of the Year" eight times.

• 

  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.

• 

  Giselle Kañevsky.

• 

  A Goalkeeper.

See also

• Argentina men's national field hockey team (Los Leones)

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 WOMEN'S WORLD RANKINGS - DECEMBER 2015" (PDF). FIH. December 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
2. (Spanish) History of the Argentine Hockey Confederation
3. (Spanish) Interview with Inés Arrondo by DeporTEA Press, 10 August 2010.
4. (Spanish) , 29 September 2006.
5. http://www.cahockey.org.ar/noticia/las-leonas-que-participaran-de-la-gira-a-europa/1947
6. "El nacimiento de Las Leonas", CanchaLlena, 24 September 2010
7. "Las Leonas son campeonas mundiales y un verdadero orgullo de la Argentina", Los Andes, 11 September 2010
8. "Igual son de oro", Clarín, 30 September 2000
9. "Las Leonas perdieron y tuvieron que conformarse con la de plata" by Sabrina Faija, Clarín, 12 August 2012
10. http://www.fih.ch/en/events-8-world-cup?womens=1
11. http://www.panamhockey.org/en/panamcups
12. http://www.panamhockey.org/en/panamgames
13. http://www.panamhockey.org/en/southam
14. http://www.fih.ch/en/events-6-olympic-games?womens=1
15. http://www.fih.ch/en/events-10-world-league?womens=1
16. http://www.fih.ch/en/events-3-champions-trophy?womens=1
17. http://www.panamhockey.org/en/juniorpanams
18. http://www.panamhockey.org/eng/compet/2010/2010wyouth/2010wyouth.htm

External links

• Official website