Pasta Masta!

for better or verse
(Italy, hungry for their first World Cup title in 24 years, took to Germany plenty of comfort foods — parmesan, prosciutto and lots of pasta — and beat France 5-3 on penalties in the World Cup final)

The curtain’s come down the players have gone
The stage is deserted but the aura lingers on
Teams from 32 countries appeared on stage
In thrilling football battles to engage
Man proposes but God disposes they say
For many reputed teams fell in the fray
Shocking was the very poor Latino show
Failing were Brazil, Argentina and Mexico
And so the balance of power began to lift
And to the “old continent” slowly did shift
But though Germany, Spain and Portugal sought
To reach the final — alas they could not
So it was left to the ageing Les Bleus
To meet the Azzurri — to win or lose

Finale
Shane Warne once disclosed that he
Kept fit eating pasta (noodles, spaghetti)
So folks it should come as no surprise
That the pasta overcame the French fries!
— Leonora
An Appreciation
No more day-watching or sleepless nights
The Fifa World Cup gave all a respite
From domestic troubles big and small
From world problems — we forgot them all
From Bush and Blair's rhetoric on TV
And admiring instead handsome Podolski
So thank you Fifa — a request we dare
Why not make it a yearly affair?