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The Elephant, the Giraffe and the Scouser

Peter Goulding

Friday, November 14th, 2003

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 The sun in the Orlando sky
Beat down with suffocating weight,
And fright’ning power to dehydrate,
Until one’s mouth and throat were dry.
The Mexicans with seeming ease
Had danced around the Irish team
In burning sun and heat extreme
That brought the Irish to their knees.
What folly ‘twas to play the tie
Upon the burning hour of noon,
Within the scorching month of June,
And Ireland’s hopes about to die.
But then the Gaelic fans were cheered,
As Aldo, trim, and clad in white,
To every Irish heart’s delight,
Upon the touchline soft appeared.
So Tommy Coyne then left the fray,
And shook bould Aldridge by the hand,
And sat down wrecked before the stand,
As Aldo itched to join the play.
But lo! A man of mighty girth,
Bespectacled with fingers fat
Came forth to cause a mighty spat
That sent disgust around the earth.
And thus, he held great Aldo’s arm
And warned him off the football field,
And Aldo, livid, had to yield,
But vowed he’d do the Fat Man harm.
Then Charlton rose with finger taut
And jabbed it at the Fat Man’s chest,
Particularly unimpressed
Because his team was one man short.
The elephant and the giraffe
Went head to head quite unrestrained,
As Skinny Man with force maintained
The elephant had made a gaffe.
For fully six whole minutes long,
While Ireland played with but ten men,
The slanging match went on and then
The language got supremely strong,
As Aldo, in deep fury, turned
Upon the hapless bureaucrat
And let a stream of curses that
In days to come a large fine earned.
And finally he joined the fray,
But still he turned and mouthed his worst,
With pressure levels fit to burst
Upon that most exhausting day.
And shortly after, he jumped up,
In such a leap we’ll ne’er forget,
And nodded sweetly in the net
To keep oul’ Ireland in the Cup.

© Peter Goulding 14th November 2003

Notes

World Cup 94. Second game of the group stage. The Americans in their wisdom decided to play this game at noon in Orlando. And then a large American official refused to allow Aldo on the pitch for six minutes.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/the-elephant-the-giraffe-and-the-scouser/