Cambiaso in
control, with MVP Chris Mackenzie (far left) and the Merlos brothers (right) closing in
E
ven the most reckless of gamblers would not have bet against Dubai overcoming Les Lions II in the final of the Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup. Dubai were clear favourites and in the end they triumphed, but only after one of the most nail-biting finals in memory. The score was tied no fewer than nine times, the underdogs took the lead in the sixth chukka and Dubai won 12-10 minutes before the final hooter.
Anyone calculating the odds would have noted that, whilst both teams came through the 14-team tournament undefeated, Dubai had a clear lead in goal difference. More crucially, they had 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso, today’s greatest player, and Pablo MacDonough (nine here, 10 at home), a newcomer to the team, who is ranked fourth in the world.
Over the past six months Cambiaso had won the four top competitions across the Atlantic: the 26- goal CV Whitney, Piaget Gold Cup and US Open in Florida and the Argentine Open at home. He had already taken the Queen’s Cup six times, three
high-goal for 17 years and have won only a single 22-goal tournament, the Warwickshire. So few pundits expected that their opponents could do much against Dubai’s powerful Cambiaso- MacDonough combination.
I’ve covered Queen’s Cup finals for 40 years and can’t recall when one has kept me more on the edge of my seat
playing with Ali Albwardy’s Dubai, and was hungry to become the first player to win the prestigious trophy seven times. Max Gottschalk’s Les Lions II had the nine- goal Merlos brothers Agustin and Sebastian at the centre, a worthy duo playing well together. However, the Gottschalks have been in English
How wrong we all were. I have been covering Queen’s Cup finals for 40 years and can’t remember when one has kept me more on the edge of my seat from start to finish. This was due in part to the teenage South African three-goaler Chris MacKenzie, 17, who fearlessly challenged the greatest out there on X
www.polotimes.co.uk July 2010 29
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