INSIDE THE TENT
A Roller Coaster Ride With Tincho Merlos
By Darlene Ricker
The Cartier Queen’s Cup final put La Indiana through an emotional wringer. Down what seemed an insurmountable five goals at halftime, the underdogs clawed their way up and tied the match in the sixth chukka. But a whistle in favor of Dubai just seconds before the final bell killed what seemed to be an unstoppable roll for La Indiana. Dubai won by one goal.
After the game a slow burn permeated the La Indiana tent. “We were there,” said captain Agustín “Tincho” Merlos, shaking his head as he exchanged looks with his brother Pite Merlos, the team coach. The other players slumped in their chairs in stunned silence. Young Rufi Merlos ran into his father’s arms, still clutching his handmade sign that read, “Vamos La Indiana!” The boy had watched most of the game from the team tent, at times on his knees with his head bowed and hands clasped together in prayer.
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The previous morning La Indiana played a practice and then huddled with their coach for hours on end, dissecting game videos and fine-tuning the plan for the final. They forged what turned out to be a fortuitous plan B, which would hinge on Julian “Negro” de Lusarreta (who Tincho says is “always a good weapon”) moving closer to the front. It proved to be the linchpin in La Indiana’s resurgence in the second half. As did Merlos, de Lusarreta scored five goals on the day and sent Dubai scrambling for the last three chukkas, but all for naught
After the strategy meeting the La Indiana players spent the rest of the day before the final hanging out together. They went to lunch en masse with their crew, as always, and enjoyed a rare aimless afternoon. “We relaxed, took it easy, drank mate together,” said Merlos. “Of course you think about the game every moment that you have a moment, but you still have to enjoy the moment.”
The night before the final Merlos got some distance from the game. He had dinner with his wife and kids, watched a little TV and went to bed when his body told him to. With no pre-game jitters, he slept soundly until between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Then he got up, and the countdown began. He made his pony list and attended to everything else that has to be done before a game. “It’s like being a pilot before a flight,” he said. “You check the engines, go down your list and make sure you’re ready.”
La Indiana couldn’t have been more ready. They had both halves of the game planned to the nines. “We had an idea what the game was going to be like, and we were right,” said Merlos. “We didn’t play well in the first half because [Dubai] didn’t let us. We knew it would be tough because they mark a lot, and they play different polo than King Power (who La Indiana beat in the semis) or us. Dubai plays very close and tries to carry the ball. We always knew it would be a physical game and not an open game.”
That was clear from the get-go. Merlos flew out of the gate Mach 9 hair-on-fire and set the tone, laying a bump on Juan Martín Nero that unseated him (not an easy thing to do to Nero, aka “The Wall”). Merlos kept the pressure on Dubai throughout the match, relentlessly chasing down Nero and Adolfo Cambiaso. Everywhere they looked, there he was.
Still, La Indiana just couldn’t get a foothold in the first half. “We weren’t having much success with the original positions of the team, so we decided to change things,” said Merlos. “That’s one of our great strengths. Our team can mutate and adapt very quickly. We were a whole different team in the second half.
Indeed they were. The sidelines erupted into a cheering squad as La Indiana came within millimetres of winning the trophy. With the score tied and just seconds left on the clock, overtime seemed a sure bet. Then suddenly, a shrill whistle pierced the air. Everyone gasped. No penalty was called, but Dubai patron Rashid Albwardy won the throw-in and sent the ball to (who else?) Cambiaso, who did his thing. Game over for La Indiana.
After such a stinging loss—and with the British Open just a week away—how do you get your mojo back?
If you’re Merlos, that’s easy: Go to Legoland! It may be hard to picture the stalwart No. 3 connecting with his inner child, but that’s exactly what he did. He packed up his wife and three young sons and trundled them off to what he called “the dinosaur park” in Windsor. Once there, he headed straight for the biggest roller coaster he could find, this one in the form of a fire-breathing dragon.
As the cart careened down steep loops and drops, Merlos blended in with the rest of the screeching passengers. The first words out of his mouth when the ride ended: “Let’s do it again!”