Another week, another blatant act of deliberate, cynical cheating. This time the unapologetic offender was the Czech Republic's Jan Rezek, who robbed Scotland of a Euro 2012 qualification game victory after diving to win a penalty in the 88th minute.
Diving is always wrong but what makes some worse than others is when the perpetrator admits it afterwards and shows absolutely no remorse, which is precisely what Rezek did in this situation. First, here's the video of Rezek's pathetic dive:
After the game, Rezek said:
'Their defender [Liverpool's Danny Wilson] touched me just a little bit. It wasn't a big touch but I felt him make contact with my leg. I knew their player was very close to me, so I was waiting for his challenge, it's true. But I say again, it was not a big fall, a dive.
'Yes, I made the most of it and, of course, the Scotland player was not happy. He asked me if he touched me first or the ball. He said he knew he had touched me a little bit and I replied that it all happened really fast. I added that maybe he did touch the ball first but that he also touched me too.'
Rezek's comments highlight (yet again) the poisonous agenda of many footballers these days: wait for the slightest of touches in the box and then hit the deck. Players like Rezek actually seem to believe that they are justified in going down if they feel any kind of contact in the box.
It's the same kind of cretinous rationalisation process that fans undertake to defend their favourite players against obvious cheating (Liverpool fans defending Luis Suarez for his World Cup cheating, for example).
The SFA has written a letter of protest to Michel Platini, urging the UEFA head to uphold the organisation's ethos of fair play and ban Rezek for his cheating.
Chance would be a fine thing!
Platini is a self-confessed cheat just like Rezek, so I wouldn't hold my breath for action any time soon, especially since Platini recently made it clear that tackling cheating is not one of UEFA's current priorities.
Jaimie Kanwar
Diving is always wrong but what makes some worse than others is when the perpetrator admits it afterwards and shows absolutely no remorse, which is precisely what Rezek did in this situation. First, here's the video of Rezek's pathetic dive:
After the game, Rezek said:
'Their defender [Liverpool's Danny Wilson] touched me just a little bit. It wasn't a big touch but I felt him make contact with my leg. I knew their player was very close to me, so I was waiting for his challenge, it's true. But I say again, it was not a big fall, a dive.
'Yes, I made the most of it and, of course, the Scotland player was not happy. He asked me if he touched me first or the ball. He said he knew he had touched me a little bit and I replied that it all happened really fast. I added that maybe he did touch the ball first but that he also touched me too.'
Rezek's comments highlight (yet again) the poisonous agenda of many footballers these days: wait for the slightest of touches in the box and then hit the deck. Players like Rezek actually seem to believe that they are justified in going down if they feel any kind of contact in the box.
It's the same kind of cretinous rationalisation process that fans undertake to defend their favourite players against obvious cheating (Liverpool fans defending Luis Suarez for his World Cup cheating, for example).
The SFA has written a letter of protest to Michel Platini, urging the UEFA head to uphold the organisation's ethos of fair play and ban Rezek for his cheating.
Chance would be a fine thing!
Platini is a self-confessed cheat just like Rezek, so I wouldn't hold my breath for action any time soon, especially since Platini recently made it clear that tackling cheating is not one of UEFA's current priorities.
Jaimie Kanwar
so what? How is diving any different from defenders pulling shirts and holdind/blocking on set-plays? Get over it you big baby
ReplyDeleteWhat Suarez did was way too different. He did what he had to do and he got justice which was deserved red card. Asamoah had chance to equalize but he didn't score.
ReplyDeleteNo, what Suarez did was a deliberate breach of the rules which is why he received a red card. Simulation is punishable by a yellow card because it's also a breach of the rules. The only difference is the perceived impact of the transgression.
ReplyDeleteSuarez stopped a definite goal. You can't even pretend that it was anything but. Yes, Gyan misses the resultant penalty which is unfortunate and a huge let off for Uruguay but at the end of the day Suarez cheated his opponents out of an equalising goal. Until the rules change it's always the 'better' option to gamble on the penalty.
Simulation is the same. A penalty is just about the best opportunity you can have to score and if you're chasing a critical goal then it might be worth the gamble by taking a dive. At worst you'll receive a yellow card and/or give up a potential scoring opportunity.
The only way to limit diving (and I specifically use the term 'limit') is to retroactively punish players in a meaningful way and punish the clubs, either financially or via points deductions.
You will never stop diving. It's simply impossible because there will always be an element of doing whatever it takes to win. I genuinely think that Suarez's actions were instinctive but it doesn't excuse it.
Its not the players fault that he goes down when he feels a touch, its the referees job to decide weather its a penalty or not. What are the referees paid for. In other sports is the same. Players try to make the most the situation, its on the officials to decide. In cricket every time the ball hits a batsman pads every one goes up appealing for LBW no matter weather the ball would have hit the stumps or not. That's not cheating. Its on the umpires to decide its out or not. Similarly in football it is well within the rights of a player to react to a situation. If players start behaving morally then I don't think we need any referees on the pitch.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the problem...when rooney and gerrard dive, its described as making the most of the situation but when others do it; oh its cheating....just like when wingers complains about refs ...he's crying but when Kenny does it...oh he is so dignified ...why??????
ReplyDeleteOne rule for some and one for others