«We are happy to have come to Real and San Sebastián»

A dense fog over the San Sebastian bay is dissipating when Eugenia Trinchinetti, Sofía Toccalino and Sara Puglisi arrive at the Miramar Palace. The first rays of sun illuminate a landscape that the three players who have recently arrived to the Real field hockey team contemplate in wonder.

It’s been a few weeks since the three landed in the city but they confess that they still have a lot to know. «We didn’t know this place, it is beautiful. We had been told that San Sebastián was very beautiful, but we never imagined how beautiful it was. I have a friend who I played with in Germany in 2021 and she sent me photos. And I showed him ‘Pau’ -Sofía Toccalino- and told him, he’s very nice, we have to go, but when we arrived it was a shock at how beautiful he is,” confesses Trinchinetti, an Argentine with 179 international caps.

The friend responsible for her being at La Real today, the one who sent her photos of La Concha, is now her partner Lara Bampin. “I’m grateful that he convinced me to come,” she says.

“We didn’t know this palace,” he says, referring to the Miramar, “We have discovered something more about the city, we were afraid of being conditioned by everyone telling us that this city is beautiful, and today we corroborate it, we are super happy” , adds Toccalino, with 171 games for Argentina.

Both have achieved bronze with the ‘lionesses’ at the Paris Olympic Games with the Argentine team, one of the most outstanding in recent years on the international stage, with two world titles and four Olympic medals. It is the second team in the world ranking and one of the teams with the most following in Argentina where field hockey has an important pull. That Real can count on them is a luxury and the possibility that the youngest players can progress alongside them.

“For us it was important to feel a little more at home, that’s why we also came together,” explains Toccalino about why they opted for Real. «We had quite a few options, we had both had our experience playing in Europe, me in Belgium and she in Germany, and obviously the culture shock is much greater in those countries. “We wanted to try a club in Spain and of the options we had, the truth is that Lara’s opinion weighed a lot.”

They share a flat with the third reinforcement of those coached by Iván Lorente, the captain of the Italian team, Sara Puglisi. “For me it was also an opportunity,” although he admits that he was “a little afraid to move at this time, but when I arrived I knew it was the right decision, I was happy. The colleagues have received us great, there is a very good vibe,” explains the Italian in a good level of Spanish infected by the accent of her colleagues. “He spent a lot of time with them and they help me a lot with the language,” he details with a laugh.

Backbone

She plays in the center back position, Toccalino is a midfielder with a lot of defensive power and Trinchinetti plays in the middle and up front. They are the backbone of Real. “Defence, midfielder and forward”, “we could do three against three”, they joke. «Also living together and spending so much time together gives us that confidence. “We are getting to know each other on the field, but the fact that the three signings are on the three lines of the field seems to me to say a lot about the project that the club has with a reference on each line.”

«It seems to me that we make a good combination. I think that’s great for the team, but we also have to merge it with all the other players,” Sofía emphasizes. The one from Luján is sportingly clear about what the objectives are.

«We are very competitive and we are at a time in our lives where sport is the priority. After the Olympic Games at the highest level, we want to contribute as much as possible,” he explains. Eugenia also assures that they come to win, “I don’t care who is ahead, we have never played with the other clubs in the League and therefore for us the rival doesn’t matter.”

Puglisi details that coach Iván Lorente has asked them to offer their best version in each game, “to leave everything on the field.” She appeals to “passion, because we are not robots, and if we don’t put our heart into it, nothing comes out. In the game we have to get used to it a little bit because each person on the team contributes something different.”

That mix of youth players and experienced top-level players that Real has suffered from in recent seasons is what should allow it to climb positions in the table. Having high-level references within the locker room is a plus for the youth players. They tell of the emotion that the youngest showed when they arrived, asking them about the Olympic Games and the medal they won. They explain how “a colleague came with her car to look for us, that’s when you realize and get an idea that they are just as excited as us and they let us know.”

“Even in training they celebrate everything,” Puglisi explains happily. “They make us feel great and they also give us that space to give our opinion or correct something to a teammate in the locker room,” adds Toccalino.

Relationship with football

Especially Argentinian women declare themselves football fans. They want to take advantage of the opportunity to wear the Real Sociedad shirt. «I become a fan, I am a fan wherever I go. When I told my brother that I was going to come to Real, he told me that he was dying to come, he is just as excited. It seems to me that La Real as an institution leads you to that, to want to fight, to always want to be at the highest level whatever the sport,” says Trinchinetti.

He explains that they “quite like football, we have been in Anoeta supporting Real, having that combo of not only hockey but also a very nice and very large sports environment, I think it made us make the right decision.”

The victory in Santander places Real in second place

The Real players ended up in second place in the League standings on Saturday after winning by a narrow margin at Sardinero de Santander, thanks to a backhand goal from Julene Sánchez two minutes before the end of the third quarter. This positive result in an early match leaves Real with nine points after five games, three points behind the leader Club de Campo and tied with Polo. La Real thus returns to a positive dynamic after the two defeats suffered in the Polo field and the last one in Zubieta against Egara. In Santander, Real knew how to suffer after scoring the goal and that is what their coach Iván Lorente liked the most, aware that it is always difficult to beat Sardinero at home. In the last quarter was when Real showed that this season they are another team, with more strength. She knew how not only to maintain the advantage but also to create chances and get the Sardinero players mad, to whom they showed two green cards and one yellow while playing at a disadvantage for many minutes. La Real thus confirms its good start to the League while waiting to receive one of the roosters next Sunday, Junior, who could have a scare in Zubieta.