England beat Brazil in HPA Coronation Cup Centenary
By Herbert Spencer
England downed Brazil 8-6 on Sunday as the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) celebrated the centenary of its Coronation Cup, but the action failed to match the occasion.
The HPA’s 2011 Cartier International Day at Guards Polo Club was again the world’s biggest one-day polo event with upwards of 20,000 spectators in attendance and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the association’s patron, presiding over the centenary celebrations.
Sadly, however, the Coronation Cup match itself did not live up to what one might expect in an international competition at the 27/29-goal level.
England, led by 7-goaler Luke Tomlinson, appeared by far the more disciplined and experienced team, but four of their eight points came from a goal given on handicap and three penalty conversions. They only equalled Brazil in field goals, four apiece.
None of the Brazil team had ever competed together and they never jelled as a team, appearing to play every man for himself. They lost their captain, José Eduardo Kalil, to injury at half time, and almost lost their substitute, painfully hit in the leg by a 60-yard penalty shot by one of his own teammates.
The only real passion produced by Brazil came from a group of scantily clad Samba dancers who gyrated sexily in front of the Royal Box before the match.