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Rivaldo Vindicated!

Peter Goulding

Wednesday, November 26th, 2003

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 They said he was despicable, they said he was a cheat,
They said that any decent man would stay upon his feet,
They said he feigned an injury to get a man expelled,
But judgements were expounded ‘ere a trial had been held.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Remember Hakan Unsal, whose own actions were quite murky,
‘Twas rumoured that this player had the hardest shot in Turkey.
Frustratedly he whacked the ball towards the great Brazilian,
Propagating, unbeknownst, this one shot in a million.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Rivaldo was just standing there, about to take a corner,
As cool as ice, although the ground was hotter than a sauna,
And Hakan Unsal’s rasping drive, struck with enormous pace,
Caught him very painfully upon his square-jawed face.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 The ball deflected downwards and then caught him on the thigh,
And bould Rivaldo fell to earth, as though about to die.
And that is what the ref perceived, and gave the Turk the red,
As Rivaldo rolled in agony, his hands about his head.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 But seven minutes earlier, a massive solar flare
Had suddenly erupted from the sun’s enormous glare.
It hurtled out towards the earth, and, as is now quite clear,
It struck the earth precisely at that spot in South Korea.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 When Hakan Unsal kicked the ball, the solar lightning struck,
And for Rivaldo, ‘twas the most appalling piece of luck,
For TV cameras at the game all stuttered for a fraction,
And failed to catch the reason for Rivaldo’s strong reaction.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 It seemed for all the world that Hakan Unsal’s kick was low,
And no-one thought Rivaldo had received a facial blow.
For in that fateful second when the lightning strike took place,
The cameras missed the sight of football smacking into face.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 But thanks to new technology, the star’s been vindicated,
And we should all feel guilty o’er the way that he was slated.
That sun-flare was the villain of the piece in South Korea,
Though it might be wise if Riv did not book two weeks in Izmir.

© Peter Goulding 26th November 2003

Notes

Coming next –

JFK – could it have been suicide?

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/rivaldo-vindicated/?shared=email&msg=fail