The near perfect match takes the field at Palermo
By Alex Webbe
The game was billed as “The Perfect Match”, “The Match of the 21st Century” and ass a “Polo celebration in Palermo” featuring eight ten-goal players taking the field under the colors of the legendary Santa Ana and Coronel Suarez teams of the 1960s and 1970s.
Organized by the Argentine Polo Association and to benefit Scholas Ocurrentes, the educational organization created by Pope Francis, the November math was scheduled to be played on the historic Number 1 Field at Palermo.
Saddling up for Santa Ana were Polito Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero, a 40-goal contingent. Coronel Suarez would be represented by Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Miguel Novillo Astrada and 9-goaler Eduardo Heguy (a former 10-goaler himself). The replacement of an injured Facundo Pieres (shoulder) by Heguy had the Coronel Suarez team taking the field at 39-goals. You can be certain, however that the honor of wearing the team colors of his father (Alberto Pedro Heguy) and his uncle (Horacio Heguy) wasn’t lost on “Russo” Heguy.
The first 80-goal match in history took place in 1975 in celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the first polo match in Argentina. At the time there were eight 10-goal players registered with the Argentine Polo Association and they were evenly divided into two teams. El Trébol (Alberto Pedro Heguy, Daniel Gonzalez, Gonzalo Tanoira and Alfredo Harriott) and Venado Tuerto (Horacio Heguy, Gastón Dorignac, Juan Carlos Harriott Jr. and Francisco Dorignac) commemorated the two teams that dominated the high-goal scene in Argentina in the 1940s and 1950s.
Since that time there have been a number of 80-goal games organized over the years from California and Florida to Australia and France, but few had the fervor and passion of the 1975 meeting. It should be remembered that in 1975 polo in Argentina was still considered an amateur sport. There were no major sponsors or patrons paying players millions of dollars for their services. They played purely for the love of the game.
The ensuing 80-goal efforts were staged as exhibitions, showcases to display the talents and horsepower of the game’s top players, but there is no longer an urgency or prideful need to win the match. Today’s 10-goalers are receiving top dollar for their talents and horsepower on the field, and rightfully so. There’s no longer a need to risk life and limb in a charitable match that is symbolic in nature.
The players on the field Saturday afternoon played to a 9-9 tie, something that happens quite often in exhibition games of this nature, and seems to keep everyone happy.
And when the game was over, awards distributed with today’s 10-goalers intermingling with several of the members of that 1975 that included Juan Carlos Harriott, Frankie Dorignac (current President of the AAP), Daniel Gonzalez, Alberto Pedro Heguy, Alfredo Harriott and Gastón Dorignac. All in all, it was a beautiful day for polo and a wonderful tribute the many great players that came before us.