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Poems tagged ‘World Cup’

World Cup day 12

Emdad Rahman

Monday, June 25th, 2018

El Hadary the star but Saudis take spoils
Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt

A 45 year old makes history
Evergeen Essam El Hadary
Taking Faryd Mondragon’s record
Saving Fahad Al Muwallad’s penalty

There’s that Red forward
Salah the Egyptian gem
Brilliantly lobbing the ball
Over Yasser Al-Mosailem

El Hadary conceded two
His countrymen left bereft
Salman Al Faraj’s spot kick
Al Dawsari with seconds left

Charruas make it three on the trot
Uruguay 3-0 Russia

The home party is muted
Cut to size in Samara
Fernando Muslera breaks a record
His country’s most capped ever

Russia had scored eight goals
Home support makes them tick
Falling behind to the Charruas
Suarez drilled a clever free kick

Worse for Cherchesov’s boys
Cheryshev was unlucky
Akinfeev blocked Bentancur
But Cavani pounced for three

Ansarifard quells Quaresma
Iran 1-1 Portugal

Somehow unfulfilled
Yet so colourful a career
His right foot flick pure madness
That for you is Ricky Quaresma

Television is taking control
VAR once again to the fore
Ronaldo fluffs a penalty
He’s still on goal number four

Lucky escape for Ronaldo
VAR once again to the fore
Ansarifard’s penalty spot on
Portugal second and a little bit sore

VAR leaves La Roja leading group
Spain 2-2 Morocco

Spain survive a scare
As VAR catches many on the hop
Iran’s late goal against Portugal
Sees La Roja finish top

Morocco are home and
They’re really not so bad
Khalid Boutaib keeps his cool
Isco levels in Kalinigrad

Youssef En-Nesyri heads a second
VAR awards Aspas’ flick
Spain will now play Russia
Maroc get ready to go home

25 06 18

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World Cup day 11

Emdad Rahman

Sunday, June 24th, 2018

Kane hat trick breaks records
England 6-1 Panama

Despite the searing heat
It’s a Sunday English rout
Stones heads & Kane from the spot
Panama are on the way out

Stones again from a training set piece
After Lingard’s curler sublime
Kane hammers a second from the spot
Spurs Hat trick and Southgate calls time

Felipe Baloy made history
The Canal Men with a grateful huddle
Panama’s first World Cup goal
All they really wanted was a cuddle

Warriors share the spoils
Japan 2-2 Senegal

Both Japan and Senegal
Control their own fate
The Taranga Lions pegged
When Nihon left it late

Senegal use brawn and beauty
To feed Sadio Mane
Takashi Inui’s slick shot
Outshone by Moussa Wague

But Japan have their oldest squad
The wily Honda joins the attack
With wisdom and knowledge
He drags his team back

Sorry Poland pack their bags
Poland 0-3 Colombia

When the Colombians clicked
Poland were dreadfully below par
With some of the best football
Of the tournament so far

In came the short cross
James on it from the get go
Yerry Mina from close range
Falcao buries one low

Lewandowski starved of service
How he need a Quintero
Poland crash out in Kazan
With a third from Cuadrado

24 06 18

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World Cup day 10

Emdad Rahman

Saturday, June 23rd, 2018

Lukaku and Hazard at the double
Belgium 5-2 Tunisia

Lukaku joins Ronaldo
In the race for the Golden Boot
Romelu does have an ace
It’s Hazard playing the flute

As the Belgians rout Tunisia
Both stars each wa brace
Dylan Bronn and Wahbi Khazri score
Tunisia sink with no trace

Eight goals in two games
Each Red Devil a star
Batshuayi makes it 5
The highest score game so far

23 06 18

number7
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South Korea 1-2 Mexico

Carlos Vela was in mourning
His Grandad had cheered El Tri
Thereafter he’d left this mortal plain
After the win against Germany

Javier Hernandez with a milestone
Reaching fifty not out
Beating Jo Hyeon-woo at the near post
To hand the Taegeuk a knockout

Son in turn hammers a worldie
Football can be so mean
This puts El Tri on the verge
Of the World Cup last 16

23 06 18

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Kroos control as Germany fight back
Germany 2-1 Sweden

“Alles klar” proclaimed the Hoff
Toivonen caught them off guard
Until Reuss stepped it up
And Boateng got a red card

A last minute stunner it is then
Amidst the stadium din
Tony launches his Kroos missile
For a dramatic last gasp win

Thoughts for poor Jimmy Durmaz
Questioned for his right to live
For the foul that led to the win
You people need some perspective

23 06 18

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World Cup day 9

Emdad Rahman

Saturday, June 23rd, 2018

Coutinho and Neymar leave it late
Brazil 2-0 Costa Rica

In Phil Coutinho
Seleção Brasileira have an ace
The Barcelona playmaker
Runs the hard race

Costa Rica set up well
Douglas Costa came in flying
They’d shed Brazilian skin
Even had Neymar crying

And so it looked like the favourites
Had run out of breath
But Coutiinho and Neymar
Swooped to seal it at the death

Magic Musa at the double
Nigeria 2-0 Iceland

Close control and a tidy finish
In my book he’s a maestro
Exquisite touch and deft of pace
What if Musa was Latino

Gylfi Sigurdsson fluffs a penalty
Iceland never in the race
Ahmed Musa for Nigeria
With a magic second half brace

The Super Eagles super win
Leaves second spot to grab
Both teams can still do it
Even the Argies still have a stab

The Eagle has landed
Serbia 1-2 Switzerland

Mitrovic pounced
Xhaka’s howitzer was regal
The Swiss are made from sterner stuff
Behold the Albanian eagle

With the clock ticking
They looked to share the cake
But Shaqiri’s late stunner
Leaves Serbia with heartache

Kaliningrad erupts
Raw emotion in the ground
Rossocrociati in the driving seat
To reach the second round

22 06 18

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World Cup day 8

Emdad Rahman

Thursday, June 21st, 2018

VAR to the rescue
Denmark 1-1 Australia

Australia are still in it
With Jedinak so trusty
Securing the first point
Against the Danes in Group C

Eriksen with a stunner
Cancelled by the Aussie penalty
Yussuf Poulsen’s handball
Thanks video assistant referee

Aaron Mooy went close
Sisto almost with a goal
France play next
As Age Hareide’s side take pole
 
21 06 18

number7
© Emdad Rahman

Les Bleus reach last sixteen
France 1-0 Peru

If France have a blazing weapon
It’s Mbappé’s youthful flame
It was left to the young star
To decide an absorbing game

Les Bleus are the third team
To clinch a spot in the last sixteen
Los Incas could’ve shocked
Had Gareca’s strikers been more keen

So France’s youngest World Cup scorer
Is a mere nineteen years old
Tapping in a Paul Pogba pass
To think things stone dead cold

21 06 18

number7
© Emdad Rahman

Argentina on the brink
Argentina 0-0 Croatia

With Ronnie on four goals
Would Messi start to shine?
Already playing catch up
We’re assured it’ll all be fine

A clanger from Caballero
Ante Rebic with a super volley
Modric hammers in a blinder
You can’t just scapegoat Willy

And as the seconds ticked away
Rakitic applied the handcuff
Now even a win against Nigeria
May not be quite enough

21 06 18

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World Cup day 7

Emdad Rahman

Wednesday, June 20th, 2018

Ronaldo knocks out Morocco
Portugal 1-0 Morocco
 
Ronaldo again with the magic
This time an in the box spinner
At the Luzhniki Stadium
Yet another World Cup winner
 
All eyes on the Madrid star
After his hat-trick against Spain
Maroc lost the bid too
A whole kingdom feels the pain
 
It took the captain four minutes
Morocco failed to spot the threat
Diving onto Moutinho’s cross
An unstoppable header in the net

20 06 18

number7
© Emdad Rahman

Suarez swoops to send Charrúas through
Uruguay 1-0 Saudi Arabia

Luis Suarez once again
Creates World Cup history
The very first Charrúa
To score for Uruguay in three

One nil suits his team fine
Atletico Madrid on the global stage
Saudi were at best lacklustre
They seriously need to engage

Top of the table with Russia
El Pistolero’s goal will suffice
And to Phil Neville we say
They’ve only won the damn thing twice

20 06 18

number7
© Emdad Rahman

Spain edge Team Melli
Iran 0-1 Spain

La Roja scraped a tough win
Sit with Portugal atop of Group B
They made it hard but still
Got an unconvincing victory

Spain’s only goal came
After Rezaeian and Costa met
An unlucky clearance
Ricocheting into his own net

Team Melli rallied
Smashed home by Ezatolahi
Wild celebrations ensued
But VAR did not agree

20 06 18

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World Cup day 6

Emdad Rahman

Tuesday, June 19th, 2018

Colombia Red mist eases Japan home
Colombia 1-2 Japan

Nightmare start to the World Cup
Colombia found it too hot
Sanchez dismissed for handling
Shinji Kagawa’s shot

After the first red at this World Cup
Kagawa from the spot too quick
And the second fastest in history
Upstaged by Quintero’s free kick

Despite Rodriguez’s introduction
Osako’s header too good to resist
Japan rallied to hold the lead
Thanks to Keisuke Honda’s assist

Senegal are trending
Poland 1-2 Senegal

Cionek and Krychowiak scoring
Niang beat a former Arsenal goalie
Slotting into an empty net
Skipping past Bednarek and Szczesny

He’s the youngest at this World Cup
Aliou Cisse is a pioneer
He holds another distinction
Being the only black gaffer here

Definitely the World Cups best fans
Senegal is now trending
This is why you ride with Les Lions
This is Africa’s first Russia win

Hosts seal Egypt fate
Russia 3-1 Egypt

Heart break for Fathi the full back
His finish was simply great
With the Cups fifth own goal
One short of France 98

Cheryshev and Dzyuba make it three
Salah’s penalty on the dot
Rifled in with a full blast
Making no mistake from the spot

In the battle of the forwards
It’s Cheryshev who rules as king
Mother Russia now march on
It’ll be more than a three game fling

19 06 18

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World Cup day 5

Emdad Rahman

Monday, June 18th, 2018

Swedes start life without Zlatan
Sweden 1-0 South Korea

Ibrahimovic had said earlier
“The World Cup without me,
is not worth watching”
To some that’s a desperate plea

But the Blågult kept their nerve
With Son’s pace on the counter spin
It’s been a long sixty years
Since an opening day win

With no Zlatan in charge
Granqvist with the penalty
It’s now about Toivonen and Berg
Teamwork and unity

Belgique rule the roost
Belgium 3-0 Panama

Belgium stroll literally
Not to mention metaphorically
Mertens with a superb volley
To liven things up in Sochi

They took a while to get going
But Lukaku headed number two
De Bruyne supplies the magic
As his Red Devil’s plot to go through

Too strong for the newbies
Hard feeding the drip
Martinez tops Group Three
Lukaku with a deft chip

Captain Kane to the rescue
Tunisia 1-1 England

It was a dream start for England
First blood from Captain Kane
Kyle Walker turned street brawler
Sassi exacting penalty pain

We saw an attack of the midges
Attacking without rhyme or reason
Gifts from the Volga River
After all it is breeding season

You can’t keep a class striker down
Three Lions with miss after miss
Harry Kane seals it at the death
Volgograd to see the back of this

18 06 18

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World Cup day 4

Emdad Rahman

Sunday, June 17th, 2018

Kolarov class the difference
Costa Rica 0-1 Serbia

Nemanja Matic is a hard man
He took on the Costa Rican bench
Over a tussle for ball retention
He received a pardon for his French

David Guzman headed over
Serbia on a tour of duty
They sure know how to cleanse
Kolarov with a left footed beauty

17 06 18

number7
© emdad rahman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Champions face ‘Chucky’ nightmare
Germany 0-1 Mexico

The holders have been beaten
It’s the World Cup’s first shock
Mexico had more heart
That you cannot knock

Hirving Lozano the difference
That star from PSV
He had the Germans in tears
It’s normal stuff from Chucky

Last time the Germans lost a first
Was Espana 82
They got their act together
To reach that final too

17 06 18

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Team Rossocrociati deny Seleção
Brazil 1-1 Switzerland

Argentina, Germany, Brazil
Have another claim to fame
For the very first time
They’ve failed to win their first game

Surely the floodgates would open
With the brilliant Coutinho
Switzerland are stern stuff
Refusing to lay down low

Much lauded for their sparkle
The five time champions pushed on
With the Swiss stifling the firepower
To draw in Rostov-on-Don

17 06 18

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World Cup day 3

Emdad Rahman

Saturday, June 16th, 2018

Pogba spares the Blues
France 2-1 Australia

This was the game of plenty
France had more and more
With their lethal attacking trio
How many would Les Bleus score?

Twas a penalty that never was
Griezmann dispatched it coolly
What’s most shocking of all
Is VAR acting unruly

Umtiti has a mad moment
Jedinak the Aussie star
Deschamps rings the changes
Bailed out by Pogba

16 06 18

number7
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Argies face the bargy
Argentina 1-1 Iceland

Argentina were left to rue
Messi’s sport kick is costly
Mascherano breaks the record
VAR misses a clear penalty

Aguero scores his very first
So lethal on the swivel
Hallgrimsson’s organised side
Simply refused to shrivel

The lead lasts four minutes
Finnbogason with a simple tap
Argentina pressed for the winner
For the vikings it’s a wrap

16 06 18

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Unlucky Peru rue killer touch
Peru 0-1 Denmark

Yussuf Poulsen did enough
To win this opening tie
Peru had 17 shots without scoring
To leave the Danes home and dry

It could have been different
Christian Cueva had the bullseye
VAR awarded a penalty kick
But he chose to aim for the sky

There was no past Schmeichel
Although Peru tethered Eriksen’s flow
Denmark take the three points
They were quite lucky to do so

16 06 18

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Sorry Nigeria are lambs to the slaughter
Croatia 2-0 Nigeria

Etebo’s own goal
And a Modric penalty
Gives Croatia a winning start
Thanks to Nigeria in Group D

It was a dire game in Kaliningrad
With a wrestling bout on the pitch
Ref Sandro Ricci didn’t hesitate
When Troost-Ekong grapples Mandzukic

There was no danger
Of Modric and his penalty
Super Eagles were woeful
With Etebo off to Stoke City

16 06 18

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Source: https://footballpoets.org/news/poem-tags/world-cup/page/5/