By Far The Greatest Team The World Has Ever Seen
Down in the Gulf State, a Scouse-fired earthquake.
Ninety minutes without a winner, ticking ticking ticking,
Bobby Firmino on the edge of the box, kicking kicking kicking,
Buries the ball, breaks hearts in Brazil, as Liverpool conquer the world.
The men in Red going far in Qatar, and finally go all the way
Winning the title and raising the trophy in more glitter than Christmas Day.
Hendo, underrated greatness, goes where no Red’s gone before,
Not Thommo, Kenny D, Emlyn Hughes or Stevie G,
Books his place in immortality,
Captain, legend forevermore.
Saturday evening, always believing,
Watching these heroes do all that they can do
To prove all our old songs and sayings true:
We’re all sitting on top,
We’re sitting on top of the world.
Got a bit ahead of myself today – had a few ideas for poems on a Christmas shopping jaunt round Oxford, but hung back on writing any of them because ideally I wanted to pen an ode to Liverpool’s first-ever world-beating team. And then for nearly two hours, I watched anxiously as it looked like Liverpool might not actually win.
But, Roberto Firmino being the legend he is (Siiiiiiii senorrrrrrr!), he put Flamengo to the sword and gave the Reds their inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, and make us – officially, at last – the greatest team the world has ever seen.
After all that, the poem hasn’t turned out to be particularly good but right now I’m too jubilant to be too bothered, I’m afraid. This is a celebratory poem for a celebratory occasion. And it mentions Christmas once, which is good enough for me.
You’ll Never Walk Alone. Four days to go…
Owen x
The Poetry Advent Calendar 