Mar 27, 2017
The USPA Gold Cup® Final took place on Sunday, March 26, 2017, at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. The undefeated Valiente met Coca-Cola for the second time in the tournament. The two teams competed early in bracket play resulting in an incredibly close, back and forth game which ended 11-10 in favor of Valiente. Powerhouse Valiente would move on to defeat their remaining opponents leading up to the final by a comfortable four-goal margin. Coca-Cola on the other hand, edged past Orchard Hill with a thrilling overtime victory 11-10 for their shot at the trophy. Spectators and polo fans crowded into the Engel & Völkers Field 1 stadium to witness the rematch, eager to discover if Valiente would maintain their prowess or Coca-Cola would be able to topple the giant.
Less than a minute into the final, Julian de Lusarreta put Coca-Cola on the board with a gorgeous nearside into goal. Shortly after, Coca-Cola received a safety which Julio Arellano put straight through to capture an early two-goal lead. Taking matters into his own hands, Adolfo Cambiaso put Valiente on the board to end the first chukker 2-1. Demonstrating exemplary teamwork, Coca-Cola continued to control the game, scoring two more goals to widen the lead 4-1. Both teams capitalized on penalties in the third, one from Miguel Novillo Astrada and two from Valiente’s Diego Cavanagh. Valiente missed two other penalty conversions, surrendering the lead to a determined and disciplined Coca-Cola 5-3 at the half.
“The first half, I have to give a lot of credit, I think Coca-Cola played so well as a team. They are a team we couldn’t figure out a way to catch, they were quick, they were passing the ball. Then I started slowing down the game, that is when we started to manage the game. I really needed to collect those goals and slow down the game, because they were doing a great job.” – Adolfo Cambiaso
Astride his mare Lufthansa, Cambiaso added another goal to the Valiente tally early in the fourth. He was quickly answered by Novillo Astrada who scored on an assist from Gillian Johnston; Johnston skillfuly rode-off 10-goaler Cambiaso to send a short back to Novillo Astrada who ran to goal.
A penalty 2 conversion by Cavanagh brought Valiente within one, but two missed opportunities for field goals by Matias Torres Zavaleta, left Valiente trailing 6-5. A deep neckshot by Cavanagh equalized the score 6-all two minutes into the fifth chukker chukker opening the flood gates for Valiente.
Coca-Cola made a series of errors relinquishing two penalty 2 conversions to Valiente, who took the lead for the first time 8-6, moving into the sixth. Straight out of a Valiente throw in, the resilient Torres Zavaleta scored immediately off of a pass from Cambiaso blazing past Johnston on his lightning fast bay Broma to widen the lead to three 9-6. Coca-Cola struggled to stay in the game, missing opportunities at goal as time ran out. Valiente won their second consecutive 26-goal tournament of the 2017 season, proudly lifting the USPA Gold Cup® with a final score 9-6.
When asked how he felt about the game Torres Zavaleta answered, “At the start we didn’t play well and Coca-Cola played really well. The second half we improved a lot. Cambiaso played amazing, he had control of the game, we tried to work for him and he won the game. He always uses the team; he passes the ball a lot. Today, he had more control of the ball and that was the way to win the game. Maybe in the last games we played a bit more open, more passing the ball, but today we tried to play like that and it wasn’t working. So he took the ball, and well...” he shrugged smiling.
Best Playing Pony honors were presented to the famous 14-year-old dark bay gelding Chocolate (by Morningstar out of Empress). Chocolate is the winner of several BPP honors in Argentina, ridden by Cambiaso and owned by J5 Equestrian. Cambiaso was also awarded Most Valuable Player for his incredible command of the second half, captaining his team to victory. “It’s always better to win than to lose, but I really think that we need to improve,” said Cambiaso about moving onto the U.S. Open Polo Championship®. “I think first half we didn’t play that well, but what counts today is that we won. I think coming into the U.S. Open having won the two tournaments is important, but to win the U.S. Open, which is the tournament that we want to win, we need to improve."
All images courtesy of ©David Lominska/International Polo Club.
Effective Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020
The suspension of USPA Tournaments and Events will be lifted for USPA Member Clubs in locales where hosting polo matches and tournaments is permitted under applicable state and local laws, executive orders and similar decrees. The USPA Member Clubs in these locales are encouraged to follow all such requirements of their state and local authorities with respect to polo operations. In addition, we also encourage all USPA Member Clubs to take the precautions recommended by the CDC. We are preparing a detailed list of best practices for USPA Member Clubs as they return to hosting USPA Tournaments and Events and plan to circulate these guidelines within the next week. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and will notify you if we determine a different course of action is necessary.
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