Lucas Martín Vila (born 23 August 1986) is an Argentine

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player who plays for Spanish club

Benalmádena Benalmádena () is a town in Andalusia in southern Spain, 12 km west of Málaga, on the Costa del Sol between Torremolinos and Fuengirola. Benalmádena is rich in attractive beaches and interesting places like the Colomares Castle, the 33-met ...

as a forward. He made his debut for the national squad in 2005, after having played the Junior World Cup in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands. He played a total of 262 times for the Argentina national team until 2021. His older brothers Matías and

Rodrigo Rodrigo is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' (Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the last Vis ...

were also field hockey players for Argentina.

International career

At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Vila competed for Argentina in the men's tournament. Lucas won the bronze medal at the

2014 Men's Hockey World Cup The 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup was the 13th edition of the Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the FIH. It was held from 31 May to 15 June 2014 at the Kyocera Stadion in The Ha ...

and three medals at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. He was part of the Argentinian squad which won the gold medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. In 2018 he was selected for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

which means he has played in four consecutive

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. He scored 1 goal in four matches in that tournament. In July 2019, he was selected in the Argentina squad for the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

. They won the gold medal by defeating

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

5-2 in the final. In December 2019, he was nominated for the FIH Player of the Year Award.

Club career

Vila started his career in Argentina at Banco Provincia. In the 2005–06 season he played for

Harvestehude Harvestehude (; Hamburgisch: ''Harvstehuud'') is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough of Eimsbüttel. It is located on the eastern boundaries of the borough near lake Außenalster. Geography Harvestehude borders the quarters of Rother ...

in the

German Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

. In 2007 he moved to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to play for TMHC Tilburg, which he left in 2010 to play for

HGC HGC can stand for: * Human Genetics Commission *Hercules Graphics Card * H.O.C. Gazellen-Combinatie, a Dutch field hockey club * HGC Global Communications, an internet service provider in Hong Kong * HGC (field hockey) H.O.C. Gazellen-Combinatie, ...

. He missed a big part of his first season at

because of a

knee injury In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the h ...

. After two seasons with HGC he went to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to play for Royal Orée before coming back to the Netherlands after one year to play for

HC Den Bosch Hockeyclub 's-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, is a Dutch field hockey club based in 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant. It was founded on 14 July 1937. The first teams (men and women) both compete on the highest level of the Dutch field hocke ...

. After one season with Den Bosch he went to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

to play for

Club de Campo Club de Campo Villa de Madrid is a country and sports club located in Madrid, Spain. The club was formed in 1929, and is one of the most known in the city. It has a wide array of sports facilities including two championship 18-hole golf courses, ho ...

. He left the club from

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

also after one season to play for

Real Club de Polo Real Club de Polo de Barcelona ( en, Barcelona Royal Polo Club) is a country club in Barcelona, Spain. Established in 1897, it had 9000 members at the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics. Normally used for polo, field hockey, tennis, squash, and swimm ...

. With Real Club de Polo he played in the

Euro Hockey League The Euro Hockey League is an annual men's field hockey cup competition organized by the EHF for the very top field hockey clubs in Europe. The competition was launched at the start of the 2007-08 field hockey season when it merged and replaced th ...

. In 2017 Vila transferred to his current club Mannheimer HC in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. After three seasons in Mannheim he made a move to

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

. On 20 August 2021 it was announced he would leave Belgium to play for Spanish second division side

Honours

Club

HGC *

: 2010–11 Real Club de Polo *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17

International

Argentina *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Pan American Cup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Champions Challenge:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

South American Championship A South American Championship is a top level international sports competition between South American athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships * ATP Buenos Aires, a tenni ...

Argentina U21 * Junior World Cup:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Pan American Junior Championship The Men's Pan American Junior Championship is a men's international under-21 field hockey tournament organized by the Pan American Hockey Federation. The tournament has been held since 1978 and serves as a qualification tournament for the Junior ...

Individual

leading goalscorer: 2013 * Junior World Cup Best player:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vila, Lucas 1986 births Living people Argentine male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of Argentina Male field hockey forwards Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2007 Pan American Games 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2011 Pan American Games Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2015 Pan American Games Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2019 Pan American Games Field hockey players from Buenos Aires Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games medalists in field hockey HGC players HC Den Bosch players Club de Campo Villa de Madrid players Real Club de Polo de Barcelona players Hockey India League players Mannheimer HC players Harvestehuder THC players Men's Belgian Hockey League players Men's Hoofdklasse Hockey players División de Honor de Hockey Hierba players KHC Leuven players Men's Feldhockey Bundesliga players Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 2022 South American Games South American Games gold medalists for Argentina South American Games medalists in field hockey 2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup players 21st-century Argentine people