USA vs. Chile -redux
By Alex Webbe
In one of the best kept secrets in polo it has just been
learned that the United States will be playing an International Test Match
against Chile Sunday, March 30th at the San Cristobal Polo Club in Santiago, Chile.
Representing the
United States are Adam Snow (6), Tommy Biddle (6), Hector Galindo (5) and Nick
Snow (4). Chile will be fielding a team
comprised of Antonio Pereira (6), Cote Pereira (4), Martin Zegers (6) and
Matias Vial (6).
The US team may be a
little long of tooth with former 10-goaler Adam Snow, former 9-goaler Hector
Galindo and former 8-goaler Tommy Biddle having seen better years, but their
experience can’t be questioned.
It should be noted that there was an International Chile vs.
the United States match for the USPA International Cup at the Grand Champions
Polo Club Late last fall (the second in an annual series that kicked off with
an England vs. USA game in 2012).
Representing the United States in that 20-goal game were
Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Jeff Hall. Chile fielded a team led by Matias Vial, Jose
Antonio Iturrate, Juan Sanchez and Max Silva.
The United States won 13-8 with Nic Roldan being named MVP.
Over the years there has been a famine in the area of
high-goal international polo competition by the United States. The revival of the Westchester Cup was a step
in the right direction, but the Camacho Cup (Mexico vs. USA) and the Cup of the
Americas (Argentina vs. USA) have slowly disappeared from the polo scene.
The Argentines claim that the United States will never have
a team with a high enough handicap to challenge them for the cup again (last
played in 1980) while the Camacho Cup was shelved again after the 2009 match
(the last time it was played before that was in 1988).
China has taken the lead in creating international
competition with the Snow Polo World Cup and the Super Nations Cup, and
although they attract top international talent, it isn’t truly international
play when the visiting teams don’t have their own horses under them.