Lucina von der Heyde’s decision to join the Germany national team shook the women’s field hockey community, marking a break with the recent history of Las Leonas.The transfer of the missionary midfielder, who competed until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with the Argentine team, responds not only to her exclusion from the latest calls, but also to the search to continue her international career, according to the player herself.The case revived the debate about the requirements for Argentine athletes who reside outside the country and brings to mind the departure of Gonzalo Peillat to the German men’s national team after similar differences in the managerial and technical sphere.
Since the end of the Olympic cycle, Lucina von der Heyde went through a period of professional uncertainty after not being called up by coach Fernando Ferrara.Despite waiting for a new opportunity, she felt that she was left out of the coaching staff’s plans, a fact that led her to consider closing her stage at the highest level: “My sporting career declined a lot because I said, ‘This is the end of my international career. I had become very sad,’ the player confessed to Radio Libertad, in a testimony that shows the emotional impact of her exclusion.
The news was confirmed when the official networks of the DANAS, the name of the German national team, announced her incorporation from March. “Welcome Lucina! In accordance with the approval of the FIH, Lucina von derHeyde is eligible to race in the DANAS jersey from March 2026. In the past, the 28-year-old played for the Argentine National Team, was awarded under 21 world champion in 2016 and the bestyoung player of the 2018 World Cup. She has lived in Germany for several years and plays for Mannheimer HC”, was the reception on the networks.
She joined in with a statement: “From the first day, both the team and the coaching staff gave me a warm welcome and made me feel at home. I am looking forward to facing the challenges that await me.”
von der Heyde’s arguments revolved around the tactical affinity and priorities of the Argentine coach, who, according to the athlete, had decided to get rid of her without respecting the previously established times: “(Coach Fernando Ferrara) decided to remove me from the list, knowing that I was playing in Europe and he was making the decision for me and not giving me the time he had told me,” he explained.
The reaction of the coaching staff and the Argentine team was immediate. Ferrara acknowledged to DeporTV: “The truth is that we did not expect it. But now we are focused on what is to come, with the players we have, which, luckily, are many, and our goal is to qualify for the World Cup.”In this way, the coach sought to close ranks around the team’s immediate future, avoiding prolonging the controversy.
For her part, defender Agostina Alonso expressed herself in the same surprising line, highlighting that the decision corresponded exclusively to the player: “It is clearly Luchi’s (von der Heyde) and we don’t like it,” she said in dialogue with DeporTV.Furthermore, Alonso highlighted the internal policy of the national team: “She knew that at the time of the calls we are asked to be in Buenos Aires. She is based in Europe and has her life there, perhaps to compete internationally she has to do so for another National Team.”Faced with aversion to alleged marginalization, Alonso refuted that accusation: “I know that there has been a lot of talk about Argentina and this team, that they don’t want it and it’s my turn to come out and say that that’s not true.”
The Argentine team will face Ireland on Tuesday the 10th and Friday the 13th, both matches scheduled for 5:30 a.m. (Argentina time), and will face Australia on Wednesday the 11th at 5:30 a.m. and on Saturday the 14th at 3:30 a.m.All matches correspond to confrontations against Ireland and the host Australia.
The most immediate antecedent of a similar situation is embodied by Gonzalo Peillat, defender of Los Leones, who after winning the gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games with Argentina, chose to join the German team in 2020. As recorded, his departure responded to differences with the then coach Carlos Retegui and authorities of the Argentine Hockey Confederation.
The migration of Argentine talents to other national teams, both male and female, raises questions about the management of international careers and the tensions that arise when residing abroad, a phenomenon that takes on new nuances in each case and tests the flexibility of national sports structures.
