Magui Aicega in depth: Las Leonas spirit, Stone side, Osvaldo tale | OneFootball

Leona, in every sense of the word. Born on November 1, 1973, in Buenos Aires, María Magdalena Aicega established herself as the legendary defender and captain of the Argentine National Team, who are once again chasing a World Championship against the Netherlands.

Beyond her legacy on the field, she is also actively working as a nutritionist and sports journalist, something she touched on in a relaxed conversation with Rincón Stone, the interview series hosted by Daniel Osvaldo in a production by Olé and La Canchita.

-Seriously, are you a Stone? Are you really into the Stones?

-No, honestly. I think out of 100 T-shirts I own, 80 are Stones T-shirts. I’m a huge fan of them and of the merch. But it’s not that I’m crazy about the music. I’m a fan of the band. Of them, yes. I can’t understand how they’re like that. Their image. I love them.

-Have you ever gone to see them?

-I went in La Plata. Yes, of course. I think he’s a genius. Maybe you mention a certain song and I’m not as familiar with it. But… I know them. I’m not saying I don’t, but maybe I’m more into other bands. I love Los Piojos, and I can tell you everything about them.

-And any other band you like from here or abroad?

-Internationally, I really like Bruce Springsteen. And U2. I mean, there are several I like. For example, those are probably the ones I like the most. But then there are other bands I listen to now and then.

-And El Indio, Los Redondos?

-Yes, them too. When I was younger, I had their whole discography. But I never went to one of Indio’s concerts. Back then I also had a lot of competitions, a lot of commitments, so I didn’t really have much time.

-A fan of...? Can that be said or not?

-No, it can’t, let’s not say it.

-You can tell me later.

-I’m a sports journalist. That’s why—not because of you, but say the opposing side. It doesn’t bother me, I mean, my kids are River fans and everything, and I go to the stadium. But the truth is that when you work at so many stadiums, you know what football is like here. It’s like if you support one team, then you can’t be objective about another.

-You can’t be straightforward, right...

-For example, you say, yeah, I don’t think Boca played well. “Oh, that’s because you’re a River fan.” I think River didn’t play well. “Oh, that’s because you’re...” You know what I mean? They just don’t accept criticism.

-Right, and you’re like, what do I care? You’re working...

-You’re working, it’s like you step away from that. Then later I go as a fan. Yes, I do go, I enjoy it. In fact, sometimes the opposite can happen too: because you support a club, you can actually be even more critical of it.

-Other emotions come into play there.

-Look, what happens to me is that since I was an athlete, criticism... I can tell you whether I think the team played well or badly. You say... No, I wouldn’t be more critical just so the other person thinks... When you’re on the radio, and maybe I’ve got Martín Ciccioli there, and I talk with Martín, who’s a huge River fan, you try to put yourself in a different place so it doesn’t turn into a partisan show.

-Right, you push back a little...

-The truth is, when you work, you always try to be really objective. Then, like everyone else, you go to a stadium and enjoy yourself. It’s part of the folklore. That’s how you live it, I don’t know. I understand football culture, but I can’t understand why people can’t see that you work objectively. No matter who you work for.

-What happens to me is that when I listen to sports journalists who used to be athletes, it’s like you can tell—the criticism lands differently, or the message does...

-Of course. Because it’s not the same if maybe a journalist who never played says it to me. Sometimes you take it badly. I always say this: in journalism they sometimes tell you it’s better when you give your opinion because you’re an athlete.

-So you have a perspective—not better or worse, I always say it’s different.

-I remember once—I go to Boca’s stadium quite a lot because I have to work there—I was walking in and all the Boca fans were coming by, looking at me and saying stuff like, yeah, you played for Las Leonas. And I laughed, you know? Then of course there’s always going to be someone who yells at you or insults you or says something, but I think that since I’m not partisan, it’s not like I work for a specific... I do sideline reporting and I do it for every club. In fact, if I’m preparing for a match and it’s Lanús, Riestra, Barracas, whoever, I want that team to win. Think about it: I spent the whole week preparing for it, you know? So in those moments I’m kind of a huge fan of those players.

-You get there and they lose every game. Then they start calling you bad luck, of course...

-But you’re like, come on, let them win.

-Yeah, it’s extra pressure.

-Yes, exactly. But that’s how it is, you know, you distance yourself a little from being a fan, and when you work, you work.

-And did you always like football as a kid, or is it more because of your profession now, let’s say?

-No, I always liked it. I always did. In fact, in my family they’re Estudiantes fans, and my dad was born in Balcarce and lived in La Plata, so that’s why he became an Estudiantes fan, and my brother is a fanatic too. My dad played pelota-paleta at Platense. And I remember that when Platense and Estudiantes played, they’d sing “El Pincha and El Marrón, one single heart.” They got along well. And I remember my dad took me to Platense’s stadium, and I’d go watch him play pelota-paleta and I’d stay there at the ground. And I saw Palermo make his debut at Estudiantes.

-Today there’s so much... and there was back then too... you lose track, you know

-I also think that back then every team had a number 10 who was amazing, and the great players stayed in Argentine football much longer. Nowadays they leave younger and younger. One good one appears and he’s gone.

-Right, and you’re not necessarily in the day-to-day with more elite players either

-So I think that’s part of it too, that players from back then are more romanticized. I remember once we were at the Cenard with Las Leonas, and I was always the one who went to football matches. I remember one time the Vélez players were there and I think... Look, I remember Morigi was there. And I looked at him and said, “Girls, that’s Morigi.” And they said, “Who?” I said, Morigi. And they said, who? “Morigi.” And also, of course, I remember Turco Asad was there too. Right, a little more well-known. And I said, “That’s Morigi.” And the guy waved at me.

-And your teammates didn’t recognize him?

-No, and on top of that, none of them were Vélez fans. I knew who he was, I mean, not because of Vélez, just because I watched football. I remember the guy waved at me and I laughed.

-Going back to Las Leonas, are you at all aware of what your national team created?

-The truth is, it’s amazing because of how much the sport grew, because before hockey belonged to a very small niche. It’s still a small niche, but it has grown tremendously. Nowadays, I always say the most beautiful thing that happened to me in hockey is that before it was seen as a very elitist sport, which is true—not because we were all rich girls, because that wasn’t the case. We were middle class, and that meant you had access, your family could buy you a hockey stick and you could go to a club.

And after Las Leonas, when you go to any province and see places with really very low-income social classes, and you see all the little girls dressed the same with their little hockey sticks, you say... it fills you with a bit of pride. At that point you say, that’s it. I won.

I won, of course. Yes. I swear, you say, that’s it, we already won. And we never won an Olympic gold medal. I don’t even care. I mean, of course I wanted to win it. Yes, I wanted to win everything. Yes, of course. But the truth is, you see that and say, that’s it. When hockey is everywhere, when everyone has access, because that’s the reality. Then the sticks started becoming... Today you have domestic brands, so there’s a lot more access, and in schools... Yes, it’s like suddenly they also opened up a market or gave a lot of people work. Totally.

That’s what it’s about, because really it’s simple. The more players there are, the more chances there are for talent to emerge. Right, so you have talented players to make the national team. And it’s still an amateur sport today.

-That’s kind of a thorn in your side, so to speak... that it’ll never be professional at club level.

-No, no, because I don’t think...

-Because there isn’t enough money. Not because there are many, and the truth is that with Las Leonas today, yes. Las Leonas is more professional. Obviously, if you ask me, can you make a living from hockey? From hockey specifically—today things are actually pretty complicated with the Cenard and all that—but can you make a living from hockey? Yes, because you’re 20 and you don’t have that many expenses. Now, if you mean like a footballer who has to support a family, no, you can’t. Today the girls can live off hockey.

-In what sense?

-Obviously they study, because you don’t know how long hockey is going to last. Today you have a scholarship, tomorrow you don’t because the coach dropped you, because you got injured, whatever the reason. So you have to study. But now you also have social media, which helps a lot with income too. Some more, some less. The more well-known players, obviously, can even earn much more.

-So all of you... basically, you cover everything yourselves?

-Yes, yes. You pay your club dues, like everyone else. You play hockey, and if you play well and have the chance to be on the national team, all the better. We had a scholarship that back in our day helped with gas money. At least I lived with my parents and my dad supported me, and I tried to pay for my little extras. I studied. I got my degree in nutrition. Then I studied sports journalism because, like I said, before, if women wanted to be involved in football, people looked at you like, what are you doing here? So it wasn’t even on your radar. But anyway, once I retired, I was already prepared for what was coming next.

-How old were you when all the success of Las Leonas started?

-25 or 26 years old. Very young.

-And the travel, was all that covered by the delegation?

-Yes, all of that, yes. In that sense, yes. All of that is covered by the Association, and obviously even more so by the Confederation than the Association.

-And when you take that onto the field, when you face the Netherlands or the big national teams, does that have a lot to do with it?

-At first you say, I want to compete with these powerhouses. Then you realize and say, I don’t even have a quarter of what they have. Here they started doing things differently from how they’d been done before. I’m talking about before 2000, and it was a different approach. We went to tournaments, everything from that era. That’s why I’m telling you, processes are super important. You know, since you’re into football, you know that processes kind of don’t exist. Because even though everyone knows they should, they don’t. We were very professional from our side, even without the financial side, and very mentally strong.

-I don’t know. We were that kind of generation. We didn’t have... It just happened, let’s say it happened humanly, by chance. Today a little girl grows up and says, I want to be like Las Leonas. I want to be like that national team from that time, but... If they didn’t have a reference point... No, we had the national team, but it wasn’t what it is today. And then all of that started to change and the results started to show, and that’s how Argentina began to grow. Olympic finalists in 2000. In 2001 we reached the Champions Trophy, which was a very important tournament. The six best teams in the world. A brutal tournament. I think for hockey it’s... the toughest one. You don’t get an easy opponent. The Netherlands, Germany, China, they were all top teams. Australia...

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.