RODRIGO Pessoa is dreaming of holding the Aga Khan Trophy aloft in the main arena next Friday, in front of the home crowd who have taken to the Brazilian legend like one of their own.

In his third year as chef d’equipe of Ireland’s senior show jumping team, Pessoa’s current contract finishes at the end of the season.

The general consensus is that he will stay on for one more year if Ireland manage to put the ghost of Olympic qualification to bed once and for all this year.

“I would like to win an Aga Khan. That would be cool. After three years, it would be really nice.

“To win a cup is always nice, but to win that one is extra special. It is at home and there is so much history in the event,” he told The Irish Field this week.

Pessoa named both his Dublin and European Championships team this week, and they both contain the same five riders, albeit some will be on different horses.

The Dublin team is Cian O’Connor (PSG Final), Darragh Kenny (Important de Muze), Paul O’Shea (Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu) and Shane Sweetnam (Chaqui Z), while Waterford’s Peter Moloney (Ornellaia) continues his rise through the ranks and earns the reserve spot, just a few months after making his five-star Nations Cup debut.

“We were able to name a good team and we are really looking forward to the challenge, we want to do something big this year. We were so close last year so this year we really want to do something big!” Pessoa said.

“Because we also have to deal with the Europeans 15 days later, we have to spare some of the horses but at least we can get some of these riders on their second horses.

“That particular class for Irish riders is really something very very special. These are all guys who have taken part in the class multiple times, except Paul, who has only done it once.”

Some two weeks after Dublin, the FEI European Championships kick off in Rotterdam and the Irish management have named a team that looks incredibly strong on paper. Individual bronze medallist at the 2017 championships, O’Connor has been named with PSG Final, but undecided until recently, his other top horse, Irenice Horta, will also go to Dublin for a final run.

Cian O'Connor and Rodrigo Pessoa at CHIO Aachen \ Tomas Holcbecher

Darragh Kenny gets his call up with Balou du Reventon after a fantastic summer; Shane Sweetnam takes a new championship mount in Alejandro; Peter Moloney will make his senior championship debut with Chianti’s Champion, a horse who is no stranger to this level, and O’Shea will take Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu.

New blood

Following the disappointment of last year’s World Equestrian Games, there was an influx of top horses in to the Irish squad. “This year we had really a big flow of very good horses. A couple of the guys really moved up to the plate and got themselves new horses. At the end of the day, that’s what you need to do and as a manager it is very good.

“Sometimes it is more difficult because you have more people to disappoint, but in general it’s a good problem to have.”

Pessoa acknowledges that some riders are disappointed to miss out on championship selection, but he feels on the back of the commitments the five riders have made for the team, and performances they have shown, they deserve to be there.

“They sacrificed to be there on call for us when we asked them to. We have a huge commitment and a lot of pressure on this championships because of the stakes [Olympic qualification] that are on the table.

“That is the best of what we have, and I don’t want to offend anyone but I feel these are the most fitting five to try to tackle this event,” he said.

The emergence of Peter Moloney and Chianti’s Champion, who was purchased by Team Harmony from Dutch rider Frank Schuttert, has been a big talking point. With three Nations Cup starts in Rome, Sopot and Aachen, the combination jumped one clear and one four or five fault round in each competition. He began training with Cian O’Connor, grabbed every opportunity and ultimately earned his place on the European team.

“As I said in my very first year [as chef d’equipe], the door is always open. Peter is the prime example of the politics that we have been carrying out – if you have a horse you will get the chance,” Pessoa explained.

“You have to seize the opportunity and that is what this man has done. He acquired a big horse, he was thrown into the big league with the experienced guys and there was a lot of pressure. He jumped half of those rounds clear and had a few little mistakes. That is very promising.

“He has conducted himself exceptionally and that is also why we are rewarding him with the alternate spot in Dublin. There is always going to be disappointed people but we felt that these five really did something special for the team this year.”

Now or never

It is now or never for Team Ireland, Pessoa and the rest of the management teams in terms of qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The top three teams not already qualified will earn their place at the Europeans, while just one slot is on offer at the FEI Nations Cup final a few weeks later.

And remember, Ireland travel to Rotterdam as the defending European Champions. “We are confident, very positive and ready to take on. At the same time we are very respectful of how hard this is going to be.

“We will fight until the very end, it’s been hanging [over us] and now this is it. It was 2004 that Ireland last had a team at the Olympics and the agony lasts a little bit longer now after Tryon, but we are going to do everything we can,” Pessoa adds.

Hopefully everything is enough.