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World Cup 2006 Day Fifteen

Peter Goulding

Saturday, June 24th, 2006

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Spain 1 Saudi Arabia 0

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Fielding their second string team,
With one arm strapped tight to their side,
Not bothering to build up much steam,
Not caring if shots whistled wide,

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Not wanting to track back and tackle,
Just hoping to showboat their skill,
Devoid of all snap, pop or crackle,
Spain still beat the Saudis one nil.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Ukraine 1 Tunisia 0

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 The miser Charon rests his oar,
And draws a sharp and rasping breath,
And you, with skin as pale as death,
Step fearful ‘pon the wretched shore.
The crimson sun drips blood-red pools
Upon the dark, unyielding rock,
While jagg’d stones conspire to mock
The timid tread of fearful fools.
And on you walk, past poplar spear’d,
And twisted bush and poison’d lake,
Hoping it is some mistake
That daylight’s somehow disappeared.
And then a noise to quake the brave,
A petrified, unearthly screech,
With timbre that descends to reach
And rouse the corpses from the grave.
Foul sirens they, with writhing hair,
And cloven hooves and blacken’d eyes,
Whose lamentations rent the skies,
And bid the wary soul beware.
And onward more, past baying hound
With frothing mouths and rotting teeth,
Chained to a massive rock beneath
The shadow’d mountain’s lava’d ground.
And at the centre of this land
Of scorchéd earth and nitr’d lake
And spectres howling at the stake,
Arises high a football stand.
And, screaming out in anguish’d pain,
Ten millions souls vent agony,
Condemned eternally to see
Tunisia against Ukraine.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Switzerland 2 South Korea 0

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Farewell to South Korea,
They may have lost the game,
But its absolutely clear
That their fans have brought them fame.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 They will sing and clap and dance
From the first kick to the last,
Whether fighting back ‘gainst France
Or when hope has long since passed.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 They would party through the night,
Having dreams to lift the Cup,
Then, before the morning light,
They would sweep their own mess up.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Oh, the English, Irish, Dutch,
Could learn a lot from South Korea.
So thank you very, very much,
It was great to have you here.

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 France 2 Togo 0

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 Le ciel est bleu, le soleil brille,
Ensemble, on annonce “Oui, oui,
Ils ont le fortitude, les vieux,
Enfin, allez-y, les Bleus!”

13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 Dans la chambre, Antoinette
Plume la petite Alouette,
Demandant lentement á Dieu
De n’oublier jamais les Bleus.

14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 “Contre Togo, ils font bien,”
Dit la femme avec son chien,
“Domenech – j’adore ses yeux,
J’espère qu’il gagne avec les Bleus.”

15 Leave a comment on verse 15 0 Sur la plage où dans le bâteau,
Dans chaque maisonette où château,
On sait bien qu’on peut faire mieux,
C’est l’inspiration pour les Bleus.

© Peter Goulding 24th June 2006

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/world-cup-2006-day-fifteen/