Poet laureate pens ode

Britain's poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, has written a poem about injured England footballer David Beckham, she revealed on Tuesday.

Duffy's poem is entitled "Achilles" and compares Beckham to the classical hero from Greek mythology who gave his name to the Achilles tendon which he has ruptured, ruling him out of the World Cup in South Africa in June and July.

"He (Beckham) is almost a mythical figure himself, in popular culture," she told BBC radio, while admitting: "I'm a lot more likely to watch football than he is to read poetry."