(For those of you who don't know - A Haiku is a 17 syllable poem, consisting of 3 lines. The lines have 5-7-5 syllables respectively)
R V P misfires
The Danes pounce with a great strike
The Dutch keep missing
Germany v Portugal
I'm fortunate enough to live within walking distance of a number of great football watching pubs. I'm not saying that was my primary reason for wanting to live in Moseley, but it's a nice bonus.
This meant there were a number of choices for my "Down the Pub" match report. I plumped for the Prince of Wales pub as not only does it have an impressive selection of ales, but it also has a massive beer garden complete with marquee and giant TV screen. Even at 7pm the place was heaving, the numbers being bolstered by a hoard of people who'd spent the day at the England v West Indies Test at Edgbaston (about a mile form Moseley).
Being a Saturday, this meant a lot of fancy dress was on show. Add to that, a full days drinking and you had a cracking atmosphere for the big game. Even better, was the fact that almost everyone present wanted to watch the match.
Everything was looking good until the match started! First of all, the sound was too low - I'm not particularly bothered about commentary, but I do think crowd noise is an essential element of watching a game. It's goes a long way to dictating the mood of the match. Also, the lack of commentary meant I had to concentrate harder to work out who was doing what - a situation not helped by the numerous pints of ale I'd consumed.
Secondly, there was a bloke with a Jedward haircut who kept standing in front of the projector and blocking out the screen. Numerous calls for him to "sit the F*ck down" seemed to fall on deaf ears for much of the match. But worst of all was the fact that the tv feed kept breaking up. Germany would have the ball on the edge of the area, then the picture would freeze for about 5 seconds and you'd see them going to take a corner...but have no idea why! This happened on numerous occasions during the game and was pretty annoying.
Despite the game being decidedly average, the pub crowd was getting pretty into it and seemed to be routing for Portugal. I was spending large chunks of the time slagging off Mario Gomez, so it was no surprise that the subject of my annoyance (Gomez not Jedward!) should score the winning goal. There was still time for more frozen pictures and a fantastic save from Neuer, but overall the Germans probably just edged it. We left the pub soon after the final whistle but it was still packed to the rafters and some England cricket songs were getting an airing.
I'm not usually a fan of football down the pub and whilst the technical problems (as well as my weak blabber) were pretty annoying, the Prince is a great pub and has an excellent atmosphere for big games. I'll certainly be revisiting for a few more games over the next 3 weeks. I just hope they can get their TV feed sorted!
Later on today, I'll be writing a live Minute by Minute report of the Spain Italy game, before I don a Leprechaun hat and give an Irish perspective of their encounter with Croatia.
Secondly, there was a bloke with a Jedward haircut who kept standing in front of the projector and blocking out the screen. Numerous calls for him to "sit the F*ck down" seemed to fall on deaf ears for much of the match. But worst of all was the fact that the tv feed kept breaking up. Germany would have the ball on the edge of the area, then the picture would freeze for about 5 seconds and you'd see them going to take a corner...but have no idea why! This happened on numerous occasions during the game and was pretty annoying.
Despite the game being decidedly average, the pub crowd was getting pretty into it and seemed to be routing for Portugal. I was spending large chunks of the time slagging off Mario Gomez, so it was no surprise that the subject of my annoyance (Gomez not Jedward!) should score the winning goal. There was still time for more frozen pictures and a fantastic save from Neuer, but overall the Germans probably just edged it. We left the pub soon after the final whistle but it was still packed to the rafters and some England cricket songs were getting an airing.
I'm not usually a fan of football down the pub and whilst the technical problems (as well as my weak blabber) were pretty annoying, the Prince is a great pub and has an excellent atmosphere for big games. I'll certainly be revisiting for a few more games over the next 3 weeks. I just hope they can get their TV feed sorted!
Later on today, I'll be writing a live Minute by Minute report of the Spain Italy game, before I don a Leprechaun hat and give an Irish perspective of their encounter with Croatia.
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