Ahead of the 15th edition of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup taking place in Spain and the Netherlands (1-17 July), we’re conducting a series of exclusive interviews with the participating teams. Today: Rocío Sanchez (ARG).
With 2 Gold medals, 2 Silver medals and 3 Bronze medals, Argentina is second in the all-time rankings of the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup. How do you explain such a success?
Argentina has a lot of history. “Leonas” has been made in the 2000s and they made a great history. I think it's part of a legend. We are very proud to be part of this group. Argentina always wants to be the best team, or try to be the best team. This team will be at the best of its possibilities. It's an honor to be here and representing Argentina.
You won the Silver medal in Tokyo last year at the Olympics. Does this performance give you some extra confidence for this World Cup?
Yes, because, to some extent, it’s the same group. It's a lot of motivation to be here for that group that won the Silver medal.
Also, you've just won the FIH Hockey Pro League for the first time. What key learnings do you take from this experience?
It was a tough year. We started in January training for the World Cup and the Pro League was in the middle. So, we took each Pro League match as it came. We didn't think about winning the Pro League. It was like ‘ok, we will play and then things will come’. I think that this message to the group was the key to win the Pro League. For this World Cup, I think it has to be the same: taking each match at a time and then the results will come.
What are your expectations as a team for this World Cup?
Our expectations are always high of course because we’re Argentina and, as I told you before, there’s a lot of history in Argentina. But it's not a pressure. Of course, we want to be one of the first. We will do our best to reach the final. However, if we don’t achieve that but we are the best team that we can be, that will be ok too.
You’re in a group with Canada, Korea and Spain. How do you look at each of these teams?
Spain will be tough because of course they are playing at home, so it will be a tough game. We know each other very well. We’ve played a lot together in the last two years so we know each other but it will be a nice game. From Korea we don't know a lot. We didn't play too much with them but it's always tough because it's in a World Cup. So, for that, it will be difficult but I think it will be ok. We played Canada in January, so we know some things about them. It's always a physical team. They run a lot and I think they are young. It will be like a physical game but it will be OK too
Do you have a specific message for your fans?
For us, the public is always very important. They always accompany us everywhere. If it is not physically, they are always noticed on the screen, on TV, on social media, wherever. We enjoy that they are there following us. And to all Argentine people who are in Spain: for us, it is super important that you accompany us in this World Cup and come to encourage us. So, we want to be locals here in Spain too.
