The businessman and founder of La Martina, Lando Simonettisurprises with a comparison in which the polo player stands out Adolfo Cambiaso above Diego Maradona.
The businessman’s comments in an interview with the podcast “Epifanía Emprendedora” generated immediate impact, various memes on social networks and revived a historical debate about how talent is measured when it comes to very different disciplines.
Simonetti, born in Rome 83 years ago and closely associated with polo for decades, argued that the conditions under which each sport is developed make a significant difference.
“Maradona has a big ball. Maradona plays with both feet on the turf, on a perfect turf,” Simonetti said, then compared that reality to the scenario Cambiaso faces in high-handicap games.
In his analysis, the founder of La Martina described the requirements of the professional field in detail. “Adolfito plays on all fours of a horse in a holey grass. That’s why (the ball) is often carried in the air so that it doesn’t burn and disappear. He has to drive at a speed of about 40 or 50 kilometers per hour, with a two-meter long cue and he has to hit it with millimeter precision with the cigarette,” Simonetti noted.
The businessman also highlighted the strategic and logistical aspect of top-level polo, pointing out that each player uses between five and six horses per game, which must be managed depending on the pace, intensity and evolution of the game.
“It’s crazy. It has to be a computer,” Simonetti said of the decisions a polo player like Cambiaso must make in seconds, combining coordination, reading the game and absolute control of the driver.
In return, the businessman put the conditions of football into perspective, claiming that the remembered captain of the Argentine national team had a more stable environment to show his talent: “Maradona has his legs, the grass, a ball and ten players to cover him,” he expressed, then pointed out that the comparison was not intended to undermine the legendary “10”, but rather to highlight the structural complexity of polo.
This statement by Simonetti did not go unnoticed and sparked a discussion on the networks about the abilities of both athletes, but also about the difficulties of comparing talents between such different sports.
For the founder of La Martina, the context, the requirements and the level of risk weigh in favor of Cambiaso, an opinion that is likely to continue to generate debate.
Far from that comparison, the star of La Dolfina and Maradona built a great relationship, even going so far as Diego once attending a final in Palermo to encourage Cambiaso. In December 2005, after Maradona’s death, the polo player said THE NATION: “I met him at the awards ceremonies and we always played golf in Ezeiza when he lived there. We shared a lot of things, not just barbecues. He often came to La Dolfina, he came to the finals in Palermo… A person who was always there when he needed to be. Especially when he lost. In some defeats he always called me. A positive energy that can’t be found anywhere. A person who should be missed because he did very well in all sports has.”
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