FIH Women’s Olympic Qualifier: Under Argentine coach Sergio Vigil’s tutelage, Chile dreams of maiden Olympic quota
Argentina and Chile share geographical boundaries yet are miles apart when it comes to the legacy in women’s field hockey.
Argentina’s Las Leonas (the Lionesses) is a two-time world champion and has five Olympic medals (three silver and two bronze). On the other hand, Chile’s World Cup debut happened only in 2022, while it has never qualified for the Olympic Games. Yet.
Under the tutelage of coach Sergio Vigil, an Argentine, the Las Diablas (the devils) is close to achieving the Olympic dream. At the ongoing Olympic qualifiers in Ranchi, the South American nation faces Japan in its final Pool A match on Tuesday. A win over the Asian giant will guarantee World No. 14 Chile a place in the semifinal and two shots at qualifying for Paris 2024- either by reaching the final or winning the third-place playoff.
“We know this tournament is super short, and now, we have a big challenge against Japan,” says Manuela Urroz, the 32-year-old forward, after scoring a brace in Chile’s 6-0 win over Czech Republic at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium on Sunday.
Urroz, co-captain of the current Chilean squad with Camila Caram, is one of the most experienced ‘devils.’ Not only in terms of the caps to her name – a whopping 233 – but also as she played in the European leagues in Belgium and the Netherlands for six years till 2023. Last year, she decided to return home in the run-up to the Pan American Games in Santiago, the Chilean capital.
While Chile could not grab the automatic qualification spot for Paris at the continental event – gold medallist Argentina got it – it did win its first medal (bronze) in 12 years, and that too, in front of a home crowd.
For Vigil, who has previously coached the Argentine women’s (1997-2004) and men’s (2004-2008) sides, the Chile project is very important.
“Chile told me about its dream – the Olympics,” says the 58-year-old, Chile’s head coach since 2016. He spends 25 days of the month in Chile and the remaining with his family back in Argentina. “Diablas is my hockey family. I love this team, and it is very important for me,” he adds.
Chile’s second-half performance during its massive win over the Czech team was particularly impressive as it counter-attacked with precision to amass five goals. One might argue that the Czech Republic, ranked 25th in the world, is not a particularly tough opponent for Chile, but against the same European nation, World No. 11 Japan could only score twice on Saturday.
Urroz (in pic), co-captain of the current Chilean squad with Camila Caram, is one of the most experienced ‘devils.’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Urroz (in pic), co-captain of the current Chilean squad with Camila Caram, is one of the most experienced ‘devils.’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Vigil explains the change in Chile’s playing style over the last couple of years. “Physicality influences the counter-attack. Better physicality, better counter-attack. Chile is a fast team now. Earlier, it was a side, which controlled the ball but wasn’t fast. It is very important for playing against teams like Japan, Germany, India, USA or England since they are very fast,” he says.
“(At half-time) We talked that we still had to have a little bit more patience to score more goals, to find better spaces, be a little bit more calm, and we did that in the second half,” adds Urroz, who is a lawyer but works in the human resource department at Decathlon, a renowned sports equipment brand, in Chile.
Replicating the same performance against a much better defensive unit in Japan will be tough for Chile. It can, however, take confidence from the fact that it held Jude Menezes’ side to a 1-1 draw in World Cup 2022. This time, qualification for the Olympics is at stake, and the devils might just pull off a heist.