It was polo and politics in near equal measure on the fields in the starkly beautiful setting in the heartland of Argentina during the IX FIP World Cup sponsored by the Federation of International Polo in mid-October.

Ten nations qualified from a total of 28 that participated in one of four regional tournaments in the 14-goal maximum that FIP bills as the World Cup of polo. It was the most nations ever in an FIP final, requiring the most coordination by the hosts and pools of horses for the players.

Fittingly, the host federation and acknowledged kingpin of the polo world, Argentina, won, besting a Brazil side 13-12 in the final after 12 days and 22 games of intense international competition. The U.S. team, qualifying by winning a regional tournament for the first time since 1998 (the U.S. played as the host team in the 2004 edition in Santa Barbara, California), was close but ultimately winless after leading in its last three games, twice in the sixth chukker.

The setting was spectacular at a brand new club--suitably called Estancia Grande-- with four fields, each with a distinctly different setting, laid out by Argentina's noted polo field engineer Alejandro Battro in San Luis Province nearly 500 miles due west of Buenos Aires on a direct line to Mendoza and Santiago.

The province's flashy governor Alberto José Rodríguez Saá was instrumental in attracting the tournament by sponsoring the club and other suitable amenities. Known country-wide for promoting good highways, free Wi Fi, computers for children and as a big supporter of the arts—and chess—Saá was a losing contender in the national presidential elections that took place three days after the tournament ended. But this didn't deter him from appearing three times at the games: at the opening game, Argentina vs. Mexico; for U.S. vs. Chile with the country's TV polo diva Susana Giminez in tow; and at the final.

The games were hotly contested with national sides battling each other, and sometimes difficult horses that were chosen in pools by lottery. A third of the 22 games were decided by a goal, three others by two. The U.S. team (Captain John Gobin, 5 goals; Nick Snow, 4; Mason Wroe, 3; and Chris Collins, 2) was sorely handicapped by not practicing or playing together since its qualifying victory in the Dominican Republic in May. By contrast, the European teams, the U.K. and Italy, had come off a six-team qualifying tournament just days before. Others like Mexico, Pakistan and India had gathered in Argentina for a week to 10 days of pre-tournament practice games before coming to San Luis. Apart from the U.S., only Australia had been unable to organize some immediate pretournament workouts.

This year's tournament showcased players more than horses. And youth. The winning Argentine team had 14-year-old Salvador Jauretche (1 goal) who took the knock-ins and midfield hits. Chile had Felipe Vercellino, a 15-year-old playing at 2 goals.

The national rosters of past FIP World Cups included many of today's high-goalers such as Bautista Heguy, Pancho Bensadon, Matias Mac Donough, Lucas Monteverde, Juan Martin Nero and two Novillo Astrada brothers for Argentina; Julio Arellano for the U.S.; the Tomlinson brothers for the U.K.; Jose Donoso for Chile; Fred Mannix for Canada; and even now universal polo promoter Nacho Figueras.

With most players 30 years old or younger, national pride on the line, and compounded by horses that were often not up to the ability of those mounted, the games were fast and furious. The India vs. Pakistan game featured three pile-ups in the first half alone.

But good sportsmanship prevailed and the stable of highly-qualified umpires—three from Argentina, and one each from Brazil, Uruguay and the U.K.—provided sound and steady oversight, handing out yellow cards to the U.K., Italy, and Brazil. There was some inconsistent calling of FIP rules, notably whether or not one can hook a backhander, and being penalized for use of a whip when the ball is not in play (such as a lineup) and only twice when in play, a rule that caused two fouls to the U.S. team at critical moments.

Not surprisingly, given the nature of polo, the pools of horses provided were the subject of most overt and covert controversy among the coaches, team managers and players. Brought by trainers from throughout Argentina for the tournament rate of $1500 per horse, 300 polo ponies were divided into pools of 28 and those pools were randomly selected by the teams. (The U.S. got first pick, but it proved meaningless since it knew nada of the horses or trainers involved.)

In previous FIP tournaments, each pool had designated A, B and C horses. This was not the case in San Luis however, reportedly because the different trainers wanted to keep their strings together with some groups proving considerably better than others. As a result, some teams were notably handicapped, such as Mexico and Pakistan, by the luck of the draw. Others not so. The U.S. team's horses, to an experienced eye, were about in the middle.

As the tourney progressed some strings improved, not from the playing but because their managers cleverly determined some horses to be lame, off, or tired as cause for substitute horses from a reserve pool, not always picked by random.

Another bone of contention was the fact that the team from Italy had at least three dual passport Argentines, two of whom had never lived in Italy. Team managers proposed that henceforth only one dual passport player be allowed on any team.

The San Luis atmospherics were as appealing as the polo. Each team travelled in a mini bus bedecked with a polo mural and its national flag. The Quintana Hotel in San Luis, a half hour from the polo grounds where teams and many camp followers stayed, and the fieldside clubhouse where all gathered for strategy talks, meals, and socializing, were awash in a colorful array of polo hats, jackets, vests and other paraphernalia. Multilingualism was abundant too, with three teams using English as their native tongue, and three Spanish, with Portuguese, Italian, Hindi and Urdu thrown in.

The tournament was blessed with fine weather, but for it being extremely windy one day—the U.S. opener against Brazil—spitting rain another, and a smog attack on a third from the ashes of an active volcano in Chile, which delayed air travel out of San Luis for several days.

This was the 9th FIP tournament. Argentina's victory gave it the best record, with four wins, Brazil has won three, and the U.S. and Chile once each, making it a strictly Western Hemisphere affair so far. Regulars like the Australian and Indian managers who have participated in three FIP tournaments, declared this one to be special with the most teams and horses ever and the best polo overall.

For this first time viewer who has experienced lots of international polo as participant and spectator, the tournament was tops. From a national pride perspective, the U.S. performance was solid, if the results acutely disappointing. Small consolation that Eduardo Huergo, the president of FIP, was unequivocal in his praise, commenting that the U.S. team was the best behaved on and off the field. "Coach Muldoon and USPA representative Ed Armstrong never complained about a thing—horses, facilities, schedule, umpiring. This is the spirit of FIP and is much appreciated."