Luciana Aymar

Luciana Paula Aymar (born August 10, 1977) is an Argentine field hockey midfielder. She is the only player in history to receive the International Hockey Federation World Player of the Year award seven times.

Aymar is known for her ability to beat opposing players using her dribbling skills, for which she has been compared with Argentine football idol Diego Maradona.

Career

Aymar started playing at age seven for Club Atlético Fisherton, in her native Rosario. She moved to Jockey Club de Rosario six years later. Eventually, she began training with the junior national team, for which she had to travel every day to Buenos Aires. In 1997, she was part of the national team that won the Pan American Games Junior Championship, and a year later she debuted with the senior national team, finishing fourth at the World Cup. She was also the youngest Argentinian to be accepted into the squad, at just 16.

Aymar is part of a generation in Argentine field hockey that has won several international tournaments from the 1999 Pan American Games on, including an Olympic silver medal, and three Champions Trophies.Nicknamed La Maga ("The Magician"), her outstanding performances have driven her to be chosen as the FIH player of the year seven times, five more than hockey legend Alyson Annan, although the award was only introduced in 1998, towards the end of Annan's career. She carried the flag for her country at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games...
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