“If I get to be there, it would be incredible,” says Florencia Bonsegundo, the Cordoba soccer player who exuded talent and sympathy in the recent presentation of the Argentine national team at the Kempes Stadium, last Thursday against Venezuela. She refers to the next objective of the AFA women’s team: the Australia-New Zealand World Cup, which will be played between July 20 and August 20.
“I hope I get to join the squad. I think that this time I would enjoy it in a different way, trying to take advantage of the experience and capitalize on what happened in 2019 ”, he points out regarding his previous World Cup participation, four years ago in France. That time, the midfielder born in Morteros scored a memorable double against Scotland (3-3), which puts her at the top of the goalscoring table for the Albiceleste team in the FIFA Cup.
“Hopefully I get to play another World Cup. I think this time I would enjoy it in a different way, trying to take advantage of the experience and capitalize on what happened in 2019.”
“The objective is to take a leap in quality. Being able to win a game, first that. And then try to carry things out as best as possible, make numbers and qualify for the round of 16. It would be something historic, because it is something that our team has not changed yet, ”he points out.
Argentina registers three presences in the highest national team competition (United States 2003, China 2007 and France 2019), with a harvest of two draws and seven defeats. In the eighth edition of the Women’s World Cup, the representative of our country, Group G with Italy, South Africa and Sweden.
SCORER. The Morteros midfielder scored twice against Scotland in France 2019, the last edition of the FIFA Cup. /// PHOTO: CEDOC PROFILE
new time
Florencia is 29 years old and has a long history with the National Team shirt. In addition to a FIFA Cup, she played in an Under 20 World Cup (Japan 2012), three Copa América (2014, 2018 and 2022) and the South American Games in Chile 2014, where Argentina won the gold medal.
For several years she has been one of the references of the squad and, as such, she had to lead the singing voice in the demand for changes that the players promoted and made visible after the experience of France 2019, a move that marked a before and after . “We made a huge noise,” she recalls.
“Women’s soccer in Argentina today is something else,” he points out when making a comparison between the previous and the current World Cup process. “Today we find a federation that fully supports us, that goes to the bottom of the canyon. All FIFA dates are used, since before it was very difficult for us to compete. I think that’s where the difference is, ”she underlines.
“Today we have a federation that fully supports us, that goes to the bottom of the canyon. And they take advantage of all the FIFA dates, since before it was very difficult for us to compete”.
“The organization of the local championship has also helped a lot, since the girls are better prepared than before. And the fact that more and more soccer players can go and play abroad is very important, to be able to continue nurturing the selection of this international filming”, adds the player who gave her first dribbles at the Roberto Colombo Fútbol Club de Morteros and who then it migrated to a Huracán de Parque Patricios.
CORDOBESAS. Paulina Gramaglia and Florencia Bonsegundo, the National Team players who ‘stolen’ popular affection on Thursday at Kempes. /// PHOTO: CEDOC PROFILE
happy in spain
In October 2021, Bonsegundo returned to the Argentine national team after a hiatus of almost two years. It was Germán Portanova, the DT with whom she had won three titles while playing at UAI Urquiza, who managed to convince her. She had resigned for “not sharing the decisions of the coaching staff (at that time, led by Carlos Borello) that are not up to the level that a team requires.”
She currently plays for Madrid CFF, a women’s soccer club that is facing its sixth season in Spain’s top division. “Things are going very well there. We are having a spectacular season and we are fifth. It is a historic position for the club, so I am very happy”, says the former player of Sporting Club de Huelva and Valencia FC.
“This is the second time that I had to play with the Argentine National Team in Córdoba and the truth is that the people behaved wonderfully again.”
Regarding the presentation at the Kempes, the Morté native points out: “It’s the second time I’ve had to play there and the truth is that the people behaved wonderfully again. It was also important because it allowed me to be with my family and share with them”.
And he talks about the game against Venezuela, which ended 1-1 and was defined by penalties in favor of the visit: “The National Team was the one that came out in the second half. In the first stage we failed a lot. In any case, football always gives revenge”.
“I think that everything works, in football, in the mood and mentally. We know what the idea is, but we are still in the process of polishing all the details, to be able to get to the World Cup well ”, he emphasizes.
WORLD SCALE. The presentation in Córdoba represented one of the last trials of the albiceleste team before the 2023 World Cup. /// PHOTO: CEDOC PROFILE
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