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 YearLuciana 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.
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.
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.
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]
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.
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:
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).
Mandelieu, France
Berlin, West Germany
Madrid, Spain
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sydney, Australia
Dublin, Ireland
Madrid, Spain
London, England
Wavre, Belgium
Kingston, Jamaica
Bridgetown, Barbados
Hamilton, Bermuda
Lancaster, United States
Santiago, Chile
Montevideo, Uruguay
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Auckland, New Zealand
Macau, China
London, United Kingdom
Changzhou, China
India
Silver medal (3): Sydney 2000,[21] London 2012,[22] Tokyo 2020
Bronze medal (3): Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, Paris 2024
World Cup (2): 2002, 2010[23]
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
