|

Poems tagged ‘Pele’

Pelé R.I.P.

Clik The Mouse

Thursday, December 29th, 2022

And lo!
God set man upon earth
And Pelé unto football

God gave humankind legs
So that we might walk
And Pele dance

God gave us brains
So that our minds might reach to the future with emboldened thought
To give us the capacity to envision play and plenitude
And to recognise deity in sport

Be the first to leave a comment »

My First World Cup in ‘58

Crispin Thomas

Wednesday, June 6th, 2018

The mists of time have not erased
The moments of those summer days
The images on our TV
In black and white they transfixed me
the beauty of the game back then
when you and I were only ten
And in our playgrounds we became
Garrincha ~Pelé ~Just Fontaine
In matches we would emulate
That first World Cup in 58

No choices like we have today
You watched whatever anyway
The four home nations were all there
And England’s hopes soon disappeared
But outside in the London heat
We held our World Cup on the street
With lost or worn out tennis balls
We chalked our goal posts on the walls
The neighbours used to remonstrate
That World Cup back in 58

The shoes I wrecked the knees I grazed
The kickabouts went on for days
With crazy scorelines every time
From fifteen nil to eighteen nine
On gravel and down at the park
We’d stay out there til after dark
The Summer football that we played
Will always last and never fade
When we would run to recreate
That World Cup back in ‘58

7 Comments »

World Cup History

Sharon Jones

Monday, June 4th, 2018

In 1930 the World Cup was born
And its birth pangs sang its joy
Jules Rimet the midwife and nurse
The victors Uruguay

The strength of Meazza and Monti shone free
1934 in the glory that was Rome
Zamora and Langara jewels for Spain
But it was the squadra azzurra who took the cup home

1938 and the playing fields of France
Before truth and justice began to die
Italy the victors Mussolini smiled
But it was Leonidas who caught the world’s eye

1950 broke the heart of all Brasil
Whilst the English in their debut fell to ground
Chico and Zizinho flew from heaven it is said
But Ghiggia with his guns shot them down

1954 and the miracle of Puskas
The Major his Magyars the kings
But the crafty Germans just ripped up the script
And galloped away with the win

1958 Didi magician with Pele and Vava
Against Kopa and Fonataine they shone
Without one defeat the world at their feet
Brasil brought the spirit of football home

1962 Decca turned down The Beatles
Guitar groups are on their way out
Elvis retired but then changed his mind and
The Boys from Brasil kept their crown

1966 Charlton and Beckenbauer duel
A disputed goal a hat trick for Hurst
Eusebio shone his boots of fire
An England victory a blessing or curse?

1970 burst in colour onto the screen
As football glimpsed its very soul
Brasil served up a football dream
The Carlos Alberto screaming goal

1974 the reincarnation of Van Gogh
His swirling colours on a canvas of grass
Cruyff and Neeskens and Krol picked up the brushes
But Beckenbauer and Muller made them put them back

1978 and the legend Mario Kempes
His boots ringing with those goals
Blew right through defences
And tore up the dreams of the Dutch Soul

1982 Rossi would find forgiveness
And bring his country joy
In the final fired his cannons
And German defences all destroyed

1986 and Maradona
Beat Shilton with his left hand
But the second such a miracle
God screamed “GOAL!” from the stands!

1990 Germany defends
And Klinsmann takes the prize
Maradona’s boots still full of tricks but
Crocodile tears fall from his eyes

1994 Romario smiles but
It’s deep despair for Baggio
Brasil gained its fourth World cup
By selling the beauty of its soul

1998 and Les Bleus once again
Multi-racial colours blend
Zinedine Zidane commanding all
Are you watching Le Pen?

2002 and Brasil burns back
Ronaldo finds his golden boots
The kings are slain by Senegal
The swordsman? El Hadji Douf

2006 and Materazzi the villain
ZiZou left the field in disgrace
Klose scored 5 for the golden boot
England as per off the pace

2010 and world cup history is made
South African grass for football is laid
Spain took the prize with Iniesta’s lone goal
The Dutch broken hearted taking silver not gold

2014 and Brasil was the host
But they couldn’t vanquish that old 1950 ghost
The Germans took honours and Merkel she danced
Gotz got the goal, Messi missed his chance!

Be the first to leave a comment »

Source: http://footballpoets.org/news/poem-tags/pele/