After a magnificent season in the 2024 World SVNs, securing the historic first place and the silver medal in the Grand Final in Madrid, Argentina 7s have confirmed their squad for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Santiago Gómez Cora announced the list of 12 players and the two reserves who will participate in the French capital, where Argentina will share Group B with Australia, Samoa, and Kenya from July 24 to 27.
Argentina 7s pick Marcos Moneta
The squad has speedster Marcos Moneta, Matías Osadczuk, Álvarez, Santiago, Santiago Mare, Tobías Wade, Gastón Revol, Luciano González and Agustín Fraga
Santiago Gómez Cora, the head coach of Los Pumas 7’s, spoke about defining the list for the Olympic event.
He said: “The big day has come to announce the 12 players who will pursue the dream of the Olympic Games. We are aware of how difficult this list is, different from the others which are more dynamic because there are circuit stages every month, and if you’re not in one, you have a shorter period to make a comeback. This opportunity only comes every four years, and it is everyone’s dream to go after an Olympic medal.
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“We are also aware of how sensitive and delicate this particular list is, but we will be consistent with what we have been doing all year. We aimed to be competitive, rotating some options, whether in lists or in different player positions. We are convinced that these are the 12 right players to pursue this Olympic dream,” Gómez Cora concluded.
It is worth noting that the national team will end their national training camp on Thursday, July 4, at Casa Pumas, then travel to Portugal on the morning of Saturday, July 6, to finalize preparations for Paris, arriving in the city on Thursday, July 18, to settle in the Olympic village.
Paris will mark the end of a glorious season for the national team after a historic first place. The team secured three consecutive gold medals (Cape Town, Perth, and Vancouver), two silver medals (Dubai and Madrid), two fifth places (Los Angeles and Singapore), and a ninth place (Hong Kong). Under Santiago Gómez Cora’s leadership, they played 44 matches, winning 36 and losing only 8.
For the pre-Olympic camp in Paris, Los Pumas 7’s will add Facundo Pueyrredón to train with the team in Portugal, where they will conduct their preseason ahead of the Olympic Games.
This will be the Argentine team’s third participation in the Olympic Games after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
In Brazil, Los Pumas 7’s fell in the quarterfinals to Great Britain (5-0 in extra time), while in Japan, they achieved the historic bronze medal after defeating the British team in the third-place match.
The Argentina 7s squad:
– Álvarez, Santiago
– Elizalde, Tomás
– Fraga, Agustín
– González, Luciano
– Graziano, Matteo
– Mare, Santiago
– Moneta, Marcos
– Osadczuk, Matías
– Pellandini, Joaquín
– Revol, Gastón
– Schulz, Germán
– Wade, Tobías
– Isgró, Rodrigo (reserve)
– Vera Feld, Santiago (reserve)
