Some of Brazil’s best riders will be attending the Furusiyya Nations Cup event this week in Bratislava, Slovakia. Alvaro de Miranda Neto, Bernardo Alves, Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, Pedro Veniss as well as Karina Johannpeter will all compete for the Brazilian flag in one of their first Nations Cup events together as a team this year. Although one of Brazil’s true greats, Rodrigo Pessoa, won’t join his fellow countryman in Bratislava this week, he intends on joining them in Arezzo, Italy. Speaking with leading ranked Brazilian rider, Alvaro de Miranda, the top-ranked rider explains Brazil’s goals for this week, this year and the next three years, leading up to the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“We have all the riders, but not all the best horses this week in Bratislava. We wanted to come together as a team but save some of our better horses. I’m very excited because the last time I competed with a team for Brazil was at the Pan American games almost two years ago in Guadalajara. We won Silver and so it’s really nice this week to compete as a team once again” said Doda from his stables in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands.
The five talented riders for Brazil, will be joined by former French team coach Jean Maurice Bonneau, who will resume his Chef d’Equipe duties from last year as well as take on the role of coach this year from Rodrigo Pessoa. Doda explained that “it was difficult to have Rodrigo both as a rider and a trainer and so the team elected to bring Jean Maurice on as trainer, however, Rodrigo will still be very involved.” It is clear that Brazil are growing and developing as a team and plan to develop stronger results at the Nations Cup level as they slowly draw nearer to the Olympic Games, which will be hosted in one of the most famous cities in Brazil. “It’s important to bring out team together. Our Chef d’Equipe this year is Jean Maurice Bonneau. After this week in Bratislava, we will have our second Nations Cup competition together in Arezzo. There, we will bring out best horses and it will be our last team competition before the Nations Cup Finals in Barcelona, Spain.”
Despite the fact that it is not official yet, it seems that Doda will be joined by Rodrigo Pessoa, Eduardo Menezes and Marlon Zanotelli for the Nations Cup event in Arezzo and plan to draw all their talent of their best horses for their last Nations Cup competition before Barcelona in September. “I’m very happy to ride with the team and this week we plan on a good result despite the fact we don’t have our best horses. I think if we focus and draw together as a team, we can welcome the challenges this week.”
Speaking about his fellow riders and team mates, it is clear that Doda knows some very well and holds all in high regard both as fellow countryman and rider’s with great talent. “Marlon is an important young rider for Brazil. He is very talented. He is a super guy.” It seems Doda and Bernardo have shared a constant rivalry between one another since competing in Brazil those many years ago. “Bernardo has been my team mates over 13 years ago. We were rivals in Brazil and competed in six or seven Brazilian championships together. One year he would win and then the next year I would win. I’ve known him a long time.”
It seems that the new partnership between Paul Schockemöhle and Bernardo Alves is one that has been secured until the Olympic Games in 2016 and could quite possibly secure some star mounts for the long-time Brazilian rider. “Bernardo is an important rider for Brazil. He has a lot of experience and I hope that this new partnership will Paul means that Bernardo can produce some new top horses. We can always count on his results. If we need a clear round, Bernardo will go in and produce a clear round. He is a real fighter. He could really be a big help for Brazil for the World Equestrian Games in Normandy and the Olympics in Rio.”
“Bernardo has the most experience on our team this week and although he doesn’t always have the best horses, he always has good results and that is why he is so important for Brazil.”
We’re very much looking forward to watching as Team Brazil grow stronger this year and look to develop as a competitive team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. We wish them best of luck this week in Bratislava, Slovakia