Moraes: Excitement Brewing in Brazil for Potential Global Cup Dynasty
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – There is a budding anticipation among the Brazilian faithful when it comes to the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy.
Team Brazil is attempting to win an unprecedented third consecutive Global Cup this coming weekend in Arlington, Texas, inside AT&T Stadium.
“They are not hoping for it. They are waiting for it,” three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes said. “It is a big deal. Everyone will be watching. It is becoming bigger than the World Championship itself. It is very exciting. Brazil won’t be happy with three titles. (Fans) believe the Brazil team is capable of winning every single time.”
Moraes will be attending the Global Cup on Saturday and Sunday as a member of the Portuguese RidePass broadcast team alongside Rafael Vilella, and he is excited to see how the competition shakes out between the Team USA Eagles and Team Brazil – the two perennial favorites.
Brazil has defeated the Americans at the last two Global Cups, including last year on U.S. soil in Texas, by a single qualified ride each time.
However, the 2020 Global Cup USA may just be Brazil’s hardest test so far, even with a handful of the Americans’ best riders unavailable because of injuries.
Unlike the 2018 and 2019 Global Cups, a team’s final score will come from the average of their best 10 scores this year instead of 12. Fewer rides necessary means that there is a less of a prominence placed on the number of rides a team can compile. Instead, knocking out higher scores is that much more important. Of course, that is as a long as a team can get to the critical 10 rides.
“I believe it was an easy format last year,” Moraes said. “This is a harder format. The Brazilians will have to change their strategy because before it was just putting scores together. If you remember last year, they were a ride ahead and it was only 72.25 points. It was just a matter of numbers. Now it is a matter of score.”
Team Brazil won in Arlington last year by going 11-for-18 and averaging 85.39 points per ride, while the runner-up Eagles averaged 86.7 points in 10 rides.
In Sydney, Brazil was 15-for-18 with their Top 12 rides averaging 83.88 points. The Eagles finished in fourth place in Sydney, going 11-for-18 with an average ride score of 84 points.
“I would be aggressive from the beginning,” Moraes said. “That is how I have always been. I would put my best riders on my flashiest bulls and tell them get the most of it. Go for it. We know America’s strategy, the Eagles’ strategy. It is get the most of it. It paid off once (in Edmonton), and it came real close one more time. They have to play the same strategy in order to win. The Brazilian strategy worked when there was a great number of rides. Not anymore. Now it is a matter of greater scores.”
At the Global Cup, the coaches and teams have sole authority over which rider gets on which bull assigned to their team.
“Because of the way they ride well together, it would be Brazil (as the favorite), but now with only 10 rides that count, the odds are in the favor of the Americans,” Moraes said. “Brazilian guys are a little bit more reserved when they ride, or a little bit more classical, as I say.”
Moraes said that the Americans still have riders capable of lighting up the scoreboard even though injuries have taken out American stalwarts such as 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis and 2019 World Champion contender Chase Outlaw.
Reigning two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood and six-time PRCA champion Sage Kimzey bring plenty of firepower to coincide with likes of Matt Triplett and Cody Teel.
For Brazil, it is no secret that the flashiest rider on the team is Jose Vitor Leme. Outside of Leme and 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco, Moraes believes Dener Barbosa can play a pivotal role in helping Brazil pull off a third straight victory.
“Everybody is expecting Vitor Leme,” Moraes said. “Of course, Leme is going to get the flashiest bulls to his left and he will be 92-93 every time. Kaique will ride everything to the right. They will forget about Dener. Dener is the key.”
Moraes is expecting another battle between the Eagles and Brazil, which has been the norm since the Americans won the inaugural Global Cup in Edmonton in November 2017.
The 2009 Ring of Honor inductee did say he has one sleeper team to watch out for, though.
“Canada to me sounds like they are quiet, but they are prepared,” Moraes said. “It could be Canada that steps in to surprise everyone.”
TOP 5 AVERAGE RIDE SCORES AMONG RIDERS AT GLOBAL CUP
Jess Lockwood (88.21)
Jose Vitor Leme (87.55)
Matt Triplett (86.66)
Colten Jesse (86.63)
Kaique Pacheco (86.59)
*Minimum 5 or more qualified rides on UTB in 2020
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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