Mexico to Play US in Camacho
Cup

By Alex
Webbe

For the first time in 21 years
Mexico compete against the United States for the Camacho Cup, the international
series between the two countries that was last played in 1988.  With the
blessing of the USPA, Mexico
and the USA will meet in the
sixty-eight year-old competition on Friday, March 13 at The Villages Polo Club
in Central Florida.

Carlos
Gracida will serve as the captain of the team from Mexico
while Mike Azzaro, America’s
highest rated player will captain the US team.

Memo
Gracida and Julio Gracida have been named as possible members of the Mexican
team while the US
team has yet to be named.

Named
after General Avila Camacho, President of Mexico, 1940-1946, and an avid polo
player, the cup was inaugurated in 1941 as a perpetual challenge trophy and has
played for on eight different occasions. 

Early
competition success favored the United
States as it won the first five series led
by Michael Phipps and Cecil Smith, Winston Guest and Stewart Iglehart, Laddie
Sanford and Dutch Evinger.  Later U. S. teams would include Red
Armour and Allen Scherer.  The free ride ended in the 1976 contest,
however, when Guillermo Gracida, Jr. joined his father on the team that scored
three straight wins over the United States
in Houston, Texas.

Five
years later the series was revived at the Retama
Polo Center
in San Antonio, Texas where Memo, Carlos and Ruben Gracida
were joined by Pablo Rincon Gallardo as they downed the Americans in two of
three games.

The U. S. fared no better in a one game competition
in 1988 at Palm Beach Polo and Country Club with Roberto Gonzales replacing
Gallardo as Mexico
kept the cup on the strength of a 9-6 victory.

This
year will mark the ninth playing for the cup, and the first Camacho Cup play in
over two decades.  Brothers Memo and Carlos Gracida are that much older,
but can the youth and athleticism of the young Americans overcome the Mexican
bank of experience.  That question will have to wait until March 13th.