Buenos Aires: Hosts Britain have emerged as Argentina's chief rivals for the women's hockey gold medal at the London Olympic Games, even if the world champions say there is no one team that stands above other rivals.

Britain narrowly lost the Champions Trophy final 1-0 to Argentina in Rosario three weeks ago in the last major tournament before the London Games that start on July 27.

Argentine coach Carlos "Chapa" Retegui believes that Las Leonas (The Lionesses) will be ready to roar in London, and have what it takes to counter Britain's intense preparation.

"Great Britain have had astronomical financial support for their preparation for the Olympic Games due to the fact of organising them," Retegui told Reuters in an interview.

"It's a support that's very difficult to equal even if today we have very good support from the government's Sports Secretariat and spectacular (help) from Enard, the national high performance body," he said.

"This is one of the best creations in (Argentine) sporting history," Retegui, a former defender who played for the Argentine men's team at three Olympic Games, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, said.

"Today we can plan and know that in 2012, 2013, 2014, beyond 2016, we'll be able to carry through that planning. Before, we didn't know if we were going to be able to spend up to a week before (an event).

"We hope we can equal that support enjoyed by Great Britain, one of the most improved teams in recent years," the 42-year-old, who has been the Argentine women's coach since 2009, said.

Qualities of the side

Retegui said Las Leonas had numerous qualities that have made them such a strong team for more than a decade, winning the World Cup twice, the Champions Trophy five times and one silver and two bronze medals at the Olympic Games.

"There's a bunch of qualities... but I think the teamwork, solidarity, is one of the most important ... quite apart from the superlative individual standard there is in the squad. They're a team that work very hard," he said.

Retegui said Argentina never got carried away looking further ahead than their next match and they would not let the fact that the Olympic gold medal was the one top prize they have yet to win blind them.

"We are seeded by our ranking (second behind the Netherlands) and don't have a team we must beat, just our first opponents, they are the only one we'll be thinking about (at the Games)," he said.