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WC 2006 : Day 31

World Cup Willie

Sunday, July 9th, 2006

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Given the day that was in it :
I watched Wimbledon
And looked for omens –
Would the Borg-like zen of Federer
Equate to the suave sophistication of France?
Would the Connors-like passion of Nadal
Be a forebear of fiery Italian woe?
My intuition said no.
And sticking with SW7, I didn’t expect
Any pointers from Plough Lane, nor AFC, nor MK
Couldn’t see any Crazy Gang capers, winning the day
I wondered pre-match :
Would a rubbery Ribery, be the boss o’ Grosso?
Or would Italy have the perfect buffer, in Buffon?
Or would we see more of that duffer, Barthez à couchons?

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 And so to the match – who would snatch
Victory? So hard to call
And so it proves – an even game of football
Nothing between them
Zidane, cool as you like, opens the scoring
With a ‘Panenka’
Materazzi equalizes with a good ol’ fashioned bullet of a header
Then France lose …
Vieira and Henry
Both succumb to injury
Then unbelievably
Zidane is sent off – and quite rightly
With a head butt as unexpected as unsightly

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 And so the match descends
To the lottery of pens :

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Pirlo : a pearler
Wiltord : willed it in
Materazzi : it mattered
Trezeguet : trés aghast!
Hits the crossbar – bounces down wrong side of the line
De Rossi : de right way!
Abidal : cool, struck it just fine
Del Piero : delivered
Sagnol : sanguine
Grosso : grasped the mettle, to ensure winners medal!

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 And so the laurels of victory, go to the Italians
A valedictory Lawro, called it ‘poetic justice’ in summation
Citing Zizou’s moment of madness, as contributing
To the French downfall, with his astonishing aberration

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Haiku :

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Fireworks finale
Italians turn Catherine wheels
Zizou butts out

© World Cup Willie, 9th July 2006

Notes

Italy win the 2006 World Cup final 5-3 on penalties, after the match had finished 1-1.

Zinedine Zidane lost his head in extra time and reacted to Materazzi’s taunts by headbutting him in the chest.

The referee didn’t appear to see it, but sent him off anyway. I wonder on whose say so? First reactions suggest someone in authority might have had a word with the fourth official !

Panenka – a player from Czechoslovakia who was the first person spotted attempting & succeeding with the penalty ‘dink’.

couchons : French for ‘let us sleep’
please excuse the bad French, it’s there for the rhyme rather than proper translation.

Also, reference to the fact that it was Men’s final day at Wimbledon too.
Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal in four sets.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/wc-2006-day-31/