vilakins | A draw, and the most blatant dive so far

We got a goal against Italy! And almost got a second one. Their goal was a dubiously awarded penalty--Italy have got diving down to a fine art--so I think we did bloody well considering.

As for that blatant and utterly shameless Cote d'Ivoire dive that succeeded in getting Kaka sent off for a slight tap on the chest (Keita falls, clutching his face in pretend agony) I do in fact have words.

It's time soccer used something like cricket's third umpire who makes the final decision based on replays if asked by the two on-field umpires. Dives and handballs are shown pretty clearly on the big screen at major matches; how hard is it for a "second ref" to do that, or even for a the ref and linesmen to actually look at the damned thing and see what happened? I hear that rugby players are fined or penalised for behaviour captured on camera (I don't watch rugby) but I'm told it's cleaned up the game a lot. Soccer could do with this. At the very least, the decision against Kaka could be reversed, but right now the ref has the final word and it's sometimes just wrong.

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Looking at that Kaka should have done the same thing, D'Ivoir hit him just as hard on the same part of his anatomy as he was hit, his chest. And yes Rugby League is a lot cleaner at the level that matches are televised than they were in my younger days because of the TMO(Television Match Official). In Union there has never been the degree of fouling that there was in League and the TMO is omnly used by the Ref for difficult decisions on trys and touch downs.

And if the ref misses a really bad foul, eg spear tackle, the offending player can be cited and disciplined on video evidence.

Ah I'm a little behind with the rules of Rugby, I didn't know that. I had noticed that the game was cleaner but I put that down to it being professional these days. Professionals have only their game to live on and do not want either to be sent off or suspended in case they were caught.

Woah, that was amazing-- run up to a guy who isn't even *looking* at you, bump your chest against his arm, and then throw yourself to the ground clutching at your face, and roll around in agony.

I swear I'd seen that sort of fake done better in school playgrounds.

Yep. If they can do it in rugby, why not here?

Greg calls them Hollywoods. Some are harder to pick, and there was a real injury earlier in that game, but that one was one of the worst I've seen.

I imagine it's really embarrassing when everyone watching the telemonitor is screaming 'YOU'RE BLIND, REF'.

But they can't hear them for the vuvuzelas.

As in cricket. They call for the third umpire by drawing a square (TV screen) in the air. That's exactly what they need in soccer.

I still can't believe that. Absolutely the worst dive I've ever seen (not the worst refereeing decision, tragically enough, but that's a rant for another day)

I suppose to be a ref, you need the hide of a rhinoceros.

If rugby league can have a Television Match Official (see the first comment, from a Welsh friend), then why the hell can't soccer? The very least they could do is reverse decisions like that.

Oh shame indeed!!!!I couldn´t believe my eyes:-(

I didn't see the match, so can't comment on whether the penalty should have been awarded, but congratulations on the result. You now have a real chance of progessing to the next round, though it still looks odds against.

It's strange that almost all the leading European sides seem to be playing poorly: Italy, Spain, France, England.

There have been some bad fouls and stupid decisions, but that was the worst.

We've done a lot better than I was ever expecting. I suppose now we'll fall apart like we do in cricket. Even if we did go ahead, we wouldn't last long, but we're still getting into the game at international level.

So far it looks as if the likeliest winners are Brazil, Argentina--and the Netherlands. I feel sorry for South Africa. The host team usually does better.

Congrats to your team! I hope they continue to do well. :o)

I hate all the diving in the sport. It's like watching a really bad movie or something, some of the dives are so blatant. To me, it ruins a bit the fun of watching.

Two draws are pretty good, especially against one of the best teams in the world! I'm sure we'll leave after the next game, but it would be great to go home with our heads high.

I feel the same way. I didn't think it had been so bad till now, but once it starts a game can turn really dirty like this one did. Either they use televised cover, or they assume all players going down are hurt and take them off the field to treat them. :-(

A draw, and the most blatant dive so far

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