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World Cup 2006 Day Eight

Peter Goulding

Sunday, June 18th, 2006

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Argentina 6 Serbia and Montenegro 0

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 All of a sudden,
The others look wooden,
Their movement perceptibly static.
They don’t cut a dash,
Don’t attack with panache,
Their build-ups controlled, but phlegmatic.
But one team stands out,
For there isn’t a doubt
They look faster and fitter and leaner,
Its not S and M
(Six fine goals knocked past them!)
But the Candystripe boys Argentina.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Those twenty four passes
Inspired the masses
And had all the panellists raving.
That goal will be shown
To kids not fully grown
With a football-perfectionist craving.
Yes, some have looked decent
In matches quite recent,
But none have looked sharper and keener
Than the yelling, trail-blazing
Exciting, amazing
Candystripe boys, Argentina.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Netherlands 2 Ivory Coast 1

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Reared on Cruyff and Gullit,
Heroes of my youth,
The Dutch stick in my gullet,
To tell the honest truth.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Where once we watch enraptured,
The skills and tricks and flicks,
Now television’s captured
All the nasty digs and kicks.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 The constant, skilful diving
Now sticks firmly in my craw,
The cruel, obsessive striving
To win yellow cards, and more.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Oh, sure, they’re slick and skilful,
Of that there is no doubt,
But this cheating thing is wilful
And I hope they’re soon knocked out.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 I hope their tactics fail,
And they’re sent home in calumny –
It feels like a betrayal
Of what football ought to be.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Mexico 0 Angola 0

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 When Lampard shoots wildly, the press yell “Bad luck!
At least he gets into position!”
When poor old Ronaldo cannot break his duck,
They call him a man on a mission.

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 When Henry or Klose just fail to score,
The press find it hard to believe,
But when the boys from Angola waste chances galore,
It’s always because they’re “naïve.”

© Peter Goulding 18th June 2006

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/world-cup-2006-day-eight/