Argentina!

[ray miller]

Come on you Argies!
Do not let
my massive bet
in the ante post market
steer your shots off target.

Ten to one!
Each day I grip
the betting slip
for fear it may have vanished
from the pocket of my jeans.

When you play the Spanish,
cheat, by all means.

[Elphin]

Magical, funny - enjoyed a lot.

the Argies have never cheated in my books!!!

elph

[Lake]

There must be the fervour of the world cup? Fun to read.

[David]

Excellent, Ray.

Lovely finish too. Speaking of which - in more ways than one - have you seen this?

[ray miller]

I keep on imagining Emile Heskey on the end of a move like that, David.
I'm so excited! I've spent the whole morning practising finger-pulls.
South Africa 13/2 to win Group A. Bafana!Bafana!

[brianedwards]

Terrific, Ray! Just a few hours away now . . .

[twoleftfeet]

Great poem about a great team with , alas, a scumbag manager.

Howzabout "lethargic" as a rhyme for "Argies"?

[ray miller]

I thought the Argies were sloppy. Fortunately, they did not have a West Ham goalkeeper.

[twoleftfeet]

I thought the Argies were sloppy. Fortunately, they did not have a West Ham goalkeeper.

Having a West Ham goalie would not have mattered for England, if they had not also had an Aston Villa "striker" (no goals
since February - I'm not sure about the year)

[ray miller]

Well, you know I'm not Emile's biggest fan but he must have been close to England's best player last night. Missed a good chance, made the goal, overall contribution pretty good. I thought Rooney was disappointing and Wright-Phillips was awful.

[brianedwards]

Heskey contributed well enough, but bottom line: should have scored. His finishing is awful, really poor.
Rooney was disappointing yes. He is supposed to be up there alongside the likes of Messi. What nonsense. He won't come up against a much weaker defence than the Americans, for all their strengths in other parts of the pitch.
Wright-Philips was appalling, and Lennon not much better I thought. Johnson was our best player, and as a Manc I am sure you'll appreciate how painful that is for me to type.

B.

[twoleftfeet]

I thought Gerrard was outstanding, and Johnson (who, of course, is a product of the West Ham academy ) was close behind, as was Cashley Cole.
Poor old Rooney was never allowed to turn - the number of times he was fouled in the last 15-20 minutes was a joke.
The Americans had done their homework and doubled up on Lennon so that he was pretty ineffective.
SWP came on I think because the USA right-back would have got Milner sent off before the end and Capello wanted SWP
to keep him occupied as a RB as opposed to a RW.
The USA had plenty of pace up front - too much for Terry and Carragher - and the fitness and spirit that you always get from
them.
Even Pele would have looked shit playing for us last night.
We need to get Rooney on the ball , facing the goal - don't ask me how - and to put some pace into central defence.
Over to you, Fabio..

[brianedwards]

If Rooney was good enough he would get himself on the ball. Let's face it, our best player is 2nd class at this level. And I am a Man U fan!
Gerrard outstanding? Well, OK . . . outstanding compared with the rest of the England midfield I assume you mean? I'd agree with that.

the fitness and spirit that you always get from them.

LOL! Gotta love football!

[twoleftfeet]

the fitness and spirit that you always get from them.

LOL! Gotta love football!

I've just re-read what I posted: I meant the Americans!

I'm not exactly Steeeevie G's biggest fan after he managed to get away with that (alleged) assault, but I genuinely thought he
had a great game last night. he and Rooney would get into any team, methinks even though we've yet to see Brazil and Spain.
I'd love to see how ManU and Liverpool got on without them (in Liverpool's case it might happen!)

[ray miller]

I thought Rooney played as if he were carrying an injury.Judging by the first half of Slovenia and Algeria we couldn't have an easier group.

[ray miller]

Well, Algeria v Slovenia has entered my top ten worst games I've seen. Almost made Mark Bright interesting. If England can't beat that pair they should make 'em walk home.

[twoleftfeet]

I think we need to adjourn to A.O.B before we upset the Mods, Ray.

[Arian]

before we upset the Mods...

Didn't you miss a trick there, Geoff - "...before we incur the Wrath of the Mods"?
Or is that an old joke? Probably. I was never very original.

[twoleftfeet]

Didn't you miss a trick there, Geoff - "...before we incur the Wrath of the Mods"?
Or is that an old joke? Probably. I was never very original.

I can see them now, entering Valhalla to the sound of Wagner.. Who needs Valkyries when you've got a Vespa?

[rushme]

great little piece - ray!

i bet there aren't too many people who can do both - bet & write poetry!

Ten to one!
Each day I grip
the betting slip
for fear it may have vanished
from the pocket of my jeans.

the excitement is quite palpable! & comes across nicely!

how come it was an equalizer bet. england & america? i thought england was far too good - is beckham playing?

america plays this funny football with hands dont they? instead of the feet - since when did they start entering the world cup? i dont remember them in any previous world cups.

you should have placed your bet on germany!

[ray miller]

rushme, you would be surprised at how many poets have liked a wager. The most informative of the Epsom Derby trials is the Dante Stakes, so it can be seen that the history is long and far flung. Charles Dickens, though admittedly not a poet, named all of his novels after horses he had successfully bet on. Lord Alfred - can we 'ave the -Tennyson liked a punt. In the modern age there is of course John Betjeman, Stephen Spender, Wilfred Owen, Ezra Pound - or Each Way, as he was known. Philip Larkin actually wrote This Be The Verse after his Mum unwittingly threw away a winning betting slip when tidying his bedroom. Near where I live, in Ledbury, there is in the Corals betting shop a chair near the window dedicated to John Masefield, it having been his favourite spot. Yeats won the Ascot Gold Cup 4 years in a row.Of course, things sometimes get a little nasty. Only last year you may have heard of the scandal surrounding the Oxford Poetry Professorship. Ruth Padel, a leading candidate for the honour, unearthed and re-circulated rumours of the sexual indiscretions of her main rival, Derek Walcott. Why would she do this? Because she had backed herself at 5-1 on Betfair. There are many more examples -I shan't even mention how much Andrew Motion owes Ladbrokes - but I've got to go and check out Denmark's price against Holland.

[rushme]

wow! thanks for enlightning - it seems writing & betting go hand in hand!

& guess what i found out - that america defeated england in the fifa world cup in brazil way back in 1950!

wonder when they'll start playing cricket? i believe they're getting a team together - they'll beat everyone else for sure!

[Arian]

i bet there aren't too many people who can do both - bet & write poetry!

What odds will you give me on that?

[twoleftfeet]

Surely one of the poets Ray mentioned must have written a poem about gamboling horses?

[ray miller]

I forgot to mention e.e. cummings, who lost all his capital by gambling on the Stock Exchange.