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WC2014 Day 18 Mexico 1 Netherlands 2

Peter Goulding

Sunday, June 29th, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Watching the telly through peripheral vision.
(Green versus orange. Come on Ireland!)
An early goal! We go ahead! A feast!
And then we think, in our cute hoor way,
ah yes, the best way to defend this lead
is to sit back and let the opposition
pour all over us like orange sauce
saturating the Sunday cabbage.
So we fall back, pushed to the edge
of the plate, defend the rim grimly.
Two late goals and the deception
is complete. Just desserts are served.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 * * * *
It’s the dramatic way
that he goes down,
the flick of the legs
and the arms outstretched,
that makes us all suspicious.
And ultimately, that is what
we will remember him for,
not the lightning speed,
nor the sharp cut backs,
nor the blistering shots,
nor the vital goals
but the exaggerated dives
and angry penalty claims.
If a left back produced a chainsaw
and sawed off one of his legs,
I’d book him for simulation.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 * * * *
You made a lot of friends.
You lifted the stock of your nation.
You reached the quarter finals
for the first time in years.
Farewell, Miguel Herrera,
bombastic Mexican coach,
dead ringer for Meatloaf.
Two out of three ain’t bad.

© Peter Goulding 29th June 2014

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/wc2014-day-18-mexico-1-netherlands-2/