Almost a month after the start of the Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, The Argentine National Team is already preparing to seek its first victory in this competition and get past the group stage. Two days ago the team resumed training and the technical director, German Portanovaassured that they arrive “with the expectation of remaining in history”.
At a press conference attended by Ambit on the property of AFA, the coach was accompanied by the players Mariana Larroquette, Vanesa Santana, Dalila Ippolito, Aldana Cometti. In this context, he assured that for Argentina “to be champions is to be able to play well, to be able to star and play against the powers in the same way”.
“We can easily lose, but the important thing is to go looking and be playing as equals. I think that’s where our process and our work goes”, highlighted Portanova, who has led the team since 2021.
In this regard, the front Mariana Larroquete added: “Our goal it’s always going to be winning and playing well. I think that We have been showing that we can play wellthat we can win and that we can compete with anyone”.
How the women’s team arrives at the 2023 World Cup
The national team will play his fourth World Cup in 2023 and the second consecutively after the historic performance in 2019where they managed to score points for the first time. They drew against Scotland and Japan and lost 1-0 to England.
Unlike the previous edition, Argentina comes to this tournament with a much higher ambition. Since the local league became professional in 2019, the team had a great growth and many of the players emigrated to play in the most competitive leagues in the world. “It was not easy at all to get here, I hope that everything continues to advance”, remarked Vanessa Santana.
The Selection will travel to New Zealand where will debut on July 24 against Italy at Eden Parkthen he will face South Africa on the 27th and will close the group stage against Swedenone of the world’s major powers, on August 2.
Regarding the preparation of these initial matches, the DT explained: “We will try to play, star, not lose that essence with which we have been training and we will work on the details of the different teams”.
For her part, Aldana Cometti added: “What we achieved in these friendly matches was find a way to play with which we feel comfortable. We have many things to polish and that’s what training sessions and rival analysis are for. The important thing is that we all unite with the same goal”.
Before traveling to New Zealand, those led by portanova will say goodbye to the local public on July 14 in a friendly against Peru in San Nicolás.
Women’s World Cup 2023: the players will receive at least US$30,000
The ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup brought great news for both the players and the sport in general. The FIFA announced a few days ago that will award a total of 150 million dollars in prizes, triple that of the last World Cup and 10 times more than in 2015.
However, the most novel thing is that this money will be delivered directly to the players and not to their federations. In this way, each player will receive at least 30 thousand dollars for playing the group stage and the amount will increase according to the instance of the tournament that each team reaches.
Portanova expressed the enormous joy he felt upon receiving this news: “Spectacular, on the verge of emotion. When I found out, my eyes filled with tears because they deserve it“, said.
In the same sense, Aldana Cometti stated: “It is a recognition for the work of all. Let it be the first step of something much biggernot only for us but for all women’s football”.
The passion to represent the Argentine National Team
At the end of the conference, all the players agreed that wearing the jersey of Argentina means “life”. They remarked that “it is a huge pride”.
Dalila Ippolito added: “It is the best, both for me and for my family. It is fulfilling a dream and I hope to continue doing it, I work a lot to continue being here. It’s inexplicableIt is so special that it cannot be conveyed with words”.
Finally, Aldana Cometti closed by stating: “Playing football is a pride. It is difficult to explain what we feel every time we go out on the field and listen to the anthem. We never abandoned this passion. The most beautiful thing in the world is playing football”.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
