It could hardly have been unkinder to the relegation-destined Italians to find themselves drawn first to go in tomorrow’s final leg of the 2009 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series in Dublin. The draw took place this morning, and the order of go is as follows: 1, Italy; 2, Great Britain; 3, The Netherlands; 4, Sweden; 5, Switzerland; 6, Ireland; 7, France; 8, Belgium; 9, USA; 10, Germany.
Italy’s new trainer, and acting Chef d’Equipe at the Irish fixture Markus Fuchs, said today however that he has the strongest possible team available to him, and that he is therefore expecting a much better result than they produced at the last two outings. “The four riders we have here will be on our team for Windsor, and I don’t expect them to come last tomorrow” he pointed out.
It has certainly been a difficult year for the country which was once such a powerful force in the sport of international jumping. But Fuchs has been employed by the Italian Federation, FISE, in an effort to restore this once great nation to its rightful place at the top end of the game. “I’m not optimistic about the immediate future but in the long-term I’m confident we can come back strong” he said.