ZACARA wins Gold Cup for the British Open over Dubai, 11-8

By Alex Webbe

Adolfo Cambiaso scored the first goal of the game for Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Nico Pieres, Adolfo Cambiaso and Alex White), but that was the only time that Zacara (Facundo Pieres, Lyndon Lea, Rodrigo Andrade and Matt Perry) trailed all day as the rang up their second British Open Championship in the last three years with an 11-8 win over Dubai at Cowdray Park Sunday afternoon in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Cambiaso’s opening goal of the game saw Dubai’s mainstay beat Facundo Pieres for the goal.  Facundo Pieres retaliated moments later as he sailed a pass ahead to a streaking Rodrigo Andrade for the only other goal of the first chukker, 1-1.

Defense was the rule in the second period with Dubai having bad luck when a shot at goal by Dubai’s Nico Pieres hit the goalpost and careened across the goal outh before being cleared by Zacara.  The only goal of the chukker came on a well-placed pass from Andrade to Facundo Pieres for the 2-1 lead.

Alex White scored to open the third chukker to tie it at 2-2.  Facundo Pieres shot through a crowd to give Zacara the lead again, 3-2.  A Zacara foul sent Nico Pieres to the penalty lien where he converted a 60-yard penalty shot, 3-3.  Facundo converted a penalty shot for Zacara, 4-3.  Nico Pieres made a run at goal in the final seconds of the first half, but his shot went wide and Zacara left the field at the end of the first half leading 4-3.

Matt Perry got on the scoreboard in the fourth on a pass from Facundo Pieres, 5-3.  Cambiaso answered with a goal from the field on a pass from Nico Pieres, 5-4.  Facundo Pieres closed out the chukker with consecutive goals for a 7-4 Zacara advantage.

Consecutive goals from Cambiaso and Nico Pieres (penalty conversion) cut the Zacara lead to a single goal, 7-6, as the fifth chukker got underway, but Facundo Pieres fired back with a pair of goals of his own, 9-6.  Nico Pieres converted a penalty shot for a goal to end the chukker, 9-7. 

The wide-open style of play that both of these extremely well-mounted teams had established earlier in the game continued in the sixth chukker.   A collision with another horse twisted Cambiaso’s knee so severely that he dismounted on the field and cringed in pain.  A brief intermission and assistance from the medical staff had him back in the saddle.  When play carried on, Cambiaso took a long shot at goal that carried wide.  Facundo took advantage of a Dubai foul by converting on a penalty shot that had Zacara back in front by three goals, 10-7.  Nico Pieres got the opportunity to return the favor by converting a penalty shot for Dubai, 10-8.   Facundo Pieres put an exclamation mark on the win by stealing the ball from Cambiaso at a full gallop, head-on-head, and racing the length of the field to score the final goal of the game in the 11-8 Zacara win.

Facundo Pieres led the field in scoring with nine goals (two on penalty shots) and received MVP honors for his performance.  Andrade and Perry added single goals for the win.  Nico Pieres scored all four of his goals on penalty shots.  Cambiaso was credited with three goals and White scored once in the Dubai loss.

Facundo Pieres was also rewarded when his pony, Open Top Model, was named Best Playing Pony.

The victory gives Zacara a sweep of the English high-goal season and marks the third time Facundo Pieres has come out on top in a head-on-head meeting with Adolfo Cambiaso dating back to Zacara’s win in the finals of the United States Open Championship.  The win also cements Facundo’s position atop the World Polo Tour rankings, a position he recently took from Cambiaso following Zacara’s Queens Cup title win.

Following the English season both Cambiaso and Pieres will be traveling to Spain where they will compete at the Santa Maria Polo Club at Sotogrande, their last stop before returning to Argentina for their Open season and another round of face-offs.