Argentina women's field hockey clinches third bronze in seven years

Argentinian forward Zoe Diaz De Armas scores her penalty in the women

Argentinian forward Zoe Diaz De Armas scores her penalty in the women’s bronze medal field hockey match between Argentina and Belgium during the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Colombes on August 9, 2024. – Credit: Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images

Argentina clinched its sixth medal seven Olympic competitions, outlasting Belgium in a shootout to grab the country’s third-ever bronze.

MATCH STATS

A scoreless first period preceded an explosive second quarter marked by loose balls, redirects, and scrappy play, each tying play mimicked the one that came before.

Belgium struck first on a penalty corner in the eighth minute. Emma Puvrez grabbed a deflected drag flick and slid it into the side of the net, but the lead wouldn’t last for long. Six and a half minutes into the second, Argentina retaliated with a penalty corner of its own.

Las Leonas added a second five minutes later, finding a loose ball and taking advantage of a confused Belgian goalie, who had already made two stops. Then, it was Belgium’s turn to even the score, potting another loose rebound while Argentinian goalie Cristina Cosentino frantically searched for the ball.

After two more evenly-matched quarters that finished with no change in score, the match headed to a shootout — the fifth across both the men’s and women’s tournaments and the third in the women’s series. Both teams had been involved in shootouts during the knockout round, but Argentina had the morale advantage ahead of the tiebreaking contest for bronze, having won its shootout against Germany in the quarterfinal. Belgium, on the other hand, lost in its shootout to China in the semifinal.

Las Leonas led the shootout from the jump, putting their first attempt just past Belgian goalie Aisling D’Hooge while the Red Panthers missed their first two. Belgium potted one to close the gap, but shots from 18-year-old Zoe Diaz de Armas and Sofia Cairo secured the 3-1 win for Argentina.

In its second-ever tournament appearance, Belgium’s advancement to the medal round is an accomplishment in and of itself, but the inexperienced squad crumbled under the pressure, seemingly forgetting that a shootout in field hockey awards eight seconds to take as many shots as possible, even if the initial shot is stopped by the goalkeeper. In both of their last two attempts, the Red Panthers walked away from a blocked shot rather than tracking it down.