Dubai defeat Les Lions II to take the Queen’s Cup
By Herbert Spencer
The Albwardys’ Dubai narrowly defeated Max Gottschalk’s Les Lions II 12-10 to take the 50th Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club Sunday (13 June), with victory secured only in the last minutes with three straight goals by Adolfo Cambiaso.
It was Cambiaso’s seventh win in the Queen’s Cup, an all-time record for the world’s greatest player. He scored 10 of Dubai’s 12 goals, with Pablo MacDonough accounting for the others.
This writer has been covering the Queen’s Cup for 40 years and I cannot remember a more thrilling final. Both the sides had come through the tournament undefeated, but with Cambiaso on board, Dubai had been favourites to win. In the end, however, it could have been anybody’s game.
The match was tied up no fewer than nine times and twice Les Lions II held the lead. Dubai had gone into the sixth chukka a goal down until Cambiaso pulled out the stops.
The real crowd-pleaser was 17-year old South African Chris Mackensie. The 3-goal player’s challenges on the great Cambiaso and MacDonough were spectacular and he scored one of the equalisers as well. His performance won him the Most Valuable Player award from the Queen.
Les Lions II’s high scorer was Augustin Merlos with 7 goals, with two by his brother Sebastian.