Football Poets

Argentina – World Champions 2022

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Wow, now that was a World Cup Final to treasure
For eternity, a football masterpiece
Defying superlatives, pronouns
Metaphors, similes
The laws of gravity almost
Since the Empyrean heights
Have been reached
In deepest Rosario, Cordoba and Beunos Aires
Where ticker tape celebrations will
Commence again
Handsomely, beautifully
Beyond syntax and vocabulary
And of course description
Argentina World Champions 2022
Richly deserved from the first whistle
Although forced to sweat rivers
When the French legion had sent
the cavalry and the kitchen sink
Into imaginary Bastille contests
M’Bappe finally scores his hat-trick
A World Cup record now rubbed away
Sir Geoff of the class of 66 relieved
At last, a brandy and cigar
To acclaim your French heir to the
Throne
Then the master of tango
Made his final bow
And now for the ultimate eulogy
Lionel Messi, classical, masterful,
Destined to be knighted at the court
Of Lionel Scaloni, Messi scores
The fated, portentous goal of a lifetime
But just over the line
And yet this was much more than
A singular South American landscape
Burnished with Latin blue and white
Mosaics and textures that France
Had no easel for and answer too
Since this was a collective piece de
Resistance against a France
Seeking theirs
Messi, Fernandez,
The deliciously skilful Alvarez,
Molina all pulling, pushing, prodding
Prompting ad infinitum, clusters of
Passes that left France
Gasping for oxygen at times
Then there were the silent whispers
Of clandestine plots and scheming
Manoeuvers off the cuff.
Messi waving the baton
All the while
Montiel, Otomendi
Treating the ball with all the tenderness
Of a team deeply in love with
The Beautiful Game
Advocating the pure simplicities
Of pass and move, give and go
The ball almost as delicate as porcelain
In Argentinian hands
Emerged from the kiln
Like an earthenware vase
Gleaming with a sheen
Firstly the Messi penalty
Rifled from the hip
Argentina one up first blood
Then De Maria who was the provider
Just kept going
As if Manchester United were
But a fond memory
Naturally Messi strikes up
Another symphony
Of perfect pitch and tone
Two goals in one game
Flawless crotchets and quavers
The masterclass written
In the stars, his stage,
His platform, a script
To remember, savour, salivate
Roll around the tongue
Like the sweetest dinner wine
Then after an explosion of six
Goals, crashing cymbals and
Thunderous pianoforte
This breathtaking contest
Finally stopped and considered
Its place in history
Beethoven and Mozart
Would have been deeply proud
Of the pulsating movements
Intriguing fortissimos
The wild and contrasting moods
Backwards and forwards
Sultry sounds and vivid images
Too good to be true
But the final whistle went
And after yet more penalty
Trials and tribulations
Along the avenidas and
Out on the plangent pampas
The mind briefly remembered
1978 when Ossie and Ricky,
Luque and Kempes
Gave us art studios of talent
While Holland wondered whether
Their World Cup day would ever
Arrive like an Amsterdam tram
Put down your cloths and brushes
Argentina, your work is done
France you were feline and
Faithful to values and virtues
As well

33