paul macdonough debuted 20 years ago at the Argentine Polo Open Championship with the irenian, the organization of his family. After that Palermo in 2002, he played the following 18 with two very important teams: ellerstina (won in 2008 and 2010) and The Dauphinwith which he shouted himself champion nine times, eight consecutive between 2013 and 2020.
After playing the latest edition with Murus Sanctus, an unsuccessful project, has come full circle this year. Because he has put the Daireaux club shirt back on, where he works one of the most important polo horse breeding centers in the countryand faced the Triple crown with your organization.
The Irenita version 2022 is a formation with 36 goals that complete Juan Britos, Juan Martin Zubia (came from the hideout) Y Francis Elizaldewho was left out of La Dolfina after last season.
It began as a special challenge with which Mac Donough (10 handicap) hoped to play and experience the three most important tournaments in the world in a different way: no pressure to win.
But after a great performance in hurlinghamwhere they defeated in “hemispherical” the nativitywho had gone undefeated in 11 matches, and lost the title to the team’s Adolfo Cambiasothe landscape has changed and today the quartet aims high.
“It was a shame we couldn’t win Hurlingham, but it’s good to know we have a team to fight. Now we want to play the Open final, which was always the goal. Today we have more confidence that we can achieve it. It would be the coolest thing in the world,” he says clarion.
Taking the decision to put together this team, which started in Zone A in Palermo with a hard-fought 14-10 win against The Hone of those who came out of the qualifying tournament, it was not easy for Mac Donough.
“At the end of last year I had little desire to continue playing. Those eight years at Ellerstina (from 2003 to 2010) and ten at Dolfina (from 2011 to 2020) were always seasons of great pressure. You had to win yes or yes, because if you didn’t win Palermo it ended up being a bad year. But eventually you get used to it and it’s nice to be in that position,” he reflects.
“Not remaining for this 2022 in any of the above three teams (Editor’s note: The one with the Pieres, the one with Cambiaso and La Natividad), he felt he would no longer be a part of the finals or polo greatness. And that’s why I didn’t really want to go through a new season,” she adds.
“In December I thought one day yes, another no… I doubted, but the truth I was more inclined to not play anymore. Finally I said to myself: “I’ll give myself another chance to play with a team I like, with younger players, and bet on something different” -to remember-. I wanted to try a year from another place, with Irenita, because it’s nice to go back to the basics too. Before, getting to the final was a habit and a duty. Now maybe it’s something more meritorious, which is enjoyed elsewhere,” she continued.
-Did you dream of playing the Triple Crown again with your family team?
-Yes, even though I didn’t know when it would happen. I have spent many years in a row with La Dolfina and when we went to Murus Sanctus we thought it would be a longer project. I had no idea that I would be playing with La Irenita soon. But due to the circumstances, the only option was to put all of this together and the truth is, I don’t regret it. I’m very happy with the team, which was fairly balanced because we were able to respect the natural positions of each player. We’re having fun. There is something about the team that makes us want to take the field.
Mac Donough is, thanks to his career, the leader of the formation. While his teammates still don’t know what it’s like to lift a trophy in the world’s three biggest tournaments, he already has 32 in his cabinet.
He has been crowned eleven times palermoten inside hurlingham and eleven others inside turtles. And he won the Triple Crown in four seasons: in 2010 with Ellerstina and in 2013, 2014 and 2015 with the extraordinary formation he was part of in La Dolfina together with Cambiaso, David Stirling Y Juan Martin Nero.
We must not lose sight of the fact that when you talk to Mac Donough, you are talking to the polo player who he equaled a record four Triple Crowns by the legendary Coronel Suárez of the brothers Alberto Pedro and Horacio Heguy, and Juan Carlos and Alfredo Harriott, who won in 1972, 1974, 195 and 1977.
Pablo feels comfortable in that position of reference, even if he clarifies: “I don’t really like it when I see what they say about Mac Donough’s team.”
And he reinforces this concept: “I know that through experience and age I can help my colleagues with certain things or with some advice. Especially the younger ones, who listen to you a little more. I know what we did at La Dolfina because everyone went well, the efforts, how we prepared, how we did the training, the videos we watched… As for the horses, be generous with loans and exchanges. And I can give a lot to this new project”.
But he wants to clarify that unity is strength in La Irenita: “The reality is that day by day we are very close and we know that there is a team of four and there is no one who is on top of the other. And this is reflected on the pitch.”
From playing without pressure to wanting to win
With a new organization, Mac Donough has started 2022 as he intended: with no great expectations and with the idea of having fun. But the landscape has changed very quickly.
“The truth is that I approached it thinking of playing without pressure, thinking that the prize was to reach a final or try to beat one of the three above. And Tortugas was like that, because we started more or less. But when we started at Hurlingham to play better, we got motivated and started thinking why not reach the final and win it. “If I’m in the final it’s a bonus”. But then you end up putting it as a goal and as a goal, which is normal.”
-Your competitive side has reappeared…
Exactly. At first I wanted to have fun. But after that you don’t have so much fun, you just want to win the final and the title. And if it doesn’t, you get a little bitter. However, I have to be aware that in December last year, when I failed to catch up with any of the top teams, reaching a final seemed a lot more uphill. We did it today, so I have to be happy with that too.
-What was it like to have played the Hurlingham final with the family team?
It was special because this is the second biggest tournament in the world. There are many people behind this organization, who work all year round, and to see how they enjoy it is very nice. And not just the family and everyone at La Irenita. I was very surprised how many outsiders, who have nothing to do with the club out there, have funded the team. I think it always happens when a new formation appears, who can face or play against those at the top. People go for the underdog. This doesn’t help and is very nice.
-Did you have a different taste for having faced La Dolfina?
We are used to facing each other, because we do it abroad every year. And once the ball is thrown, that’s it, you focus on the game. But it’s true that when you go out on the pitch and you see you’re facing the team you’ve played with for ten years, it’s a strange feeling. We have experienced many strong things, it has been a lifetime of playing together. I’m happy for them, for winning the title. But, the truth, this time I wanted to win it.
A special Palermo
Maybe Mac Donough will take his revenge in Palermo. La Irenita plays in Zone A alongside La Natividad, La Ensenada Murus Sanctus, La Irenita III and La Hache. La Dolfina, in B, with Ellerstina, La Dolfina II, La Irenita II and La Esquina.
“From the latest results, I think La Dolfina is the strong candidate. But anything can happen. There may be surprises. Let’s hope there will be, because this does polo very well,” analyzed Mac Donough, who has had different sensations than in recent years in the race for the competition.
“All previous years, I knew that I had one foot in the last game in the area, which is the semi-final. And that I had a good chance of winning the other games, being relatively comfortable. This year was different. We have a difficult area and, for what happened to La Natividad last year, who lost early on with a classified team (chapaleufu) and then won the Open, we know we have to be careful against all rivals,” he said.
And the player warned that beyond the fact that on paper they are not the favorites to reach the final (La Natividad, winner of Tortugas and defending champion, is the first candidate in the group), the evolution of the team from the beginning of the exciting season.
“In Tortugas we started playing badly. We arrived with very little team training together and horses very out of rhythm, and it was difficult for us. But we felt that the things to improve were quite visible and when you see that the mistakes are enough Of course, if they adapt you a little better. And this was happening,” he said.
“Obviously I still feel there are a lot of things to improve. In the final at Hurlingham we were far from having a good game. But that makes you want to continue,” he concluded.
The weekend games
After the 14-10 victory against La Hache, La Irenita and Mac Donough will play this Saturday the 12th, at 16:30, against Murus Sanctus Bay. In preview, from 14:00, they will open La Natividad-La Hache.
Meanwhile, on Sunday 13th, zone B will be measured at 2pm. ellerstina–The corner and at 4.30 pm, The Dauphin–La Delfina breeding.
The competition action won’t stop at the Campo Argentino de Libertador y Dorrego, which will host the tournament until the final on 2 December.
Source: Clarin
