Estefanía Banini reflected on women's football today and her significant time with the Albiceleste. “When I spoke, they left me out of the National Team, which was my dream,” he said.
Estefanía Banini spoke again about her departure from the Argentine National Team and, without hesitation, assured that her departure from the Albiceleste was because she was one of those who raised her voice for better conditions.
"When I spoke, they left me out of the National Team, which was my dream. I had a big depression, they took me out of there for speaking and for wanting to improve instead of taking it as an opportunity to grow," she said in a talk in the interview seriesTalking about Football, by journalist Julián Aguilera, and reflected on the current situation of women's football in Argentina.
Estefi started by talking about his emigration to Levante Badalona of the Spanish League before delving deeply into the topic of the Argentine National Team. "I came to this team because investors arrived who have great prospects for the future. I started playing when I was very little, I was the first of my group of friends to come to the club. It was atypical, it was not customary to see a girl who played soccer. It was very difficult for my family, it's one thing to see it but another to make the decision, and I, being a girl, said 'why don't they let me play?'" explained Banini, who is the greatest reference in Argentine women's soccer worldwide.
Winner of tournaments, cups and individual awards, the player was one of the pioneers in the fight for better conditions in the Argentine National Team. "When I was very young I saw that the girls in the National Team did not have adequate rest or food, they had other jobs and you saw that the best ones played in those conditions. In Buenos Aires there was a lack of dedication to soccer. We wore men's clothing of any size, we made the 'oversize' fashionable," the soccer player joked.
Banini on his departure from the Argentine National Team
Then, she delved into the conflict that distanced her from the Albiceleste after demands for better conditions. "When there is a struggle, everything depends on how you take it. You can be silent or you can listen and be flexible. Today we are improving socially but in football we saw it many years later. We cannot have less or worse conditions to play," he began by saying and added: "The difference, for example, here in Spain there was a struggle and they were heard. Here it is like we cover up the problem. We want to give what this job demands: feed yourself well, rest well, if on top of that you have to work on something else to have a salary that allowing you to eat well is a problem. And that depends a lot on the clubs.”
Later, he attacked everything about his departure from the team led by Germán Portanova. "I was the captain, I played, I lived from soccer abroad and I didn't need Argentina. The fact of speaking was not for me, I had no need, I just wanted the National Team to grow and for the girls who arrived not to encounter the same things that we encountered. And in fact, when I spoke, they left me out of the National Team, which was my dream", she related and detailed: "I had a big depression, they took me out of there for speaking and for wanting to improve in instead of taking it as an opportunity to grow. But if today I have to reflect, today that everything has happened, I am proud of what I did and I would do it again even if they take away the most important thing, my dream, what moved me I would fight again for better conditions because I am sure that, with good work, the Argentine National Team can become a power," she explained.
“They are leaving out players who spoke”
In addition, he referred to other colleagues who also complained about conditions and were not summoned again. "Are they calling the best? They are leaving out players who spoke, due to disagreement, due to lack of conditions. In Argentina they don't call them," he stated.
In that sense, she highlighted: "They are calling those who do not say anything or the generation that we wanted not to have to fight when they have to continue training. They all have the level to be in the National Team, but there are others who are not calling because they spoke. That is the sad thing. On top of that we lack training and perhaps lack support from the clubs, on top of that we have the luxury of not calling some because they spoke. How much advantage are we giving, how much talent are you losing."
Regarding how the public interprets the performance of women's football, Banini analyzed that "Argentina has a great exposure. Socially it pushes you to say 'women are not even there', but it is due to all the lack of care, the lack of training of professionals and the lack of improvements" and that ""the political intention to invest in the development of women's football is lacking."