• Euro 2012 Day 22 Rest Day
    Where are they now? Where have they gone, that green-clad crowd that everybody so admired? whose singing was, at times, inspired, strong, resilient, loud and proud; who spent their time in Poland drinking, licensed, as it were, to roam by wives and children stuck at home; and sang out as our hopes were sinking. What […]
  • Euro 2012 Day 21 Semi Final 2
    Germany 1 Italy 2 They’d been moaning about him, they’d been groaning about him. On the football chat shows, they’d been phoning about him but Balotelli came up trumps and left the Germans in the dumps in Warsaw. They’d been suspicious about him, they’d been seditious about him, vicious, repetitious, superstitious about him but Balotelli […]
  • Euro 2012 Day 20 Semi Final 1
    Spain 0 Portugal 0 (Spain win 4-2 on penalties) Alonso not scoring, Portuguese guffawing, doubts start gnawing, Casillas clawing, big hand pawing, two teams drawing, Iniesta restoring, much esprit-de-corps-ing, Piqué encoring, the balance see-sawing, two tribes warring, Ramos matadoring, Ronaldo ignoring, hope now soaring, fans imploring, Fabregas roaring, conquistadoring, emotions pouring, tension thawing, public adoring, […]
  • Euro 2012 Day 19 Rest Day
    Six Haiku (i) Long balls thrown away. Keane but never in the Hunt. Performances Duff. (ii) Fortunes on the Wayne. England fire turns to Ashes. Hart is not enough. (iii) Pepe not kidding. Winking Billy hogs limelight. Nani in shadows. (iv) Loew a fickle thing. Gomez and Müller jilted. Germans get Klose. (v) Super Mario? […]
  • Euro 2012 Day 18 Rest Day
    Five seconds of fame Five seconds of fame, you’re up on the big screen. Yes, you, the one who can’t believe his eyes, with silly hat and face all painted green. The game itself is mundane and routine. (The whistle blows more than you realise.) Five seconds of fame, you’re up on the big screen. […]