No, Argentina are branded as cheats because Maradona's hand of God.
When you say Portugal or Argentina in England everyone turns around and says 'fu**ing winking, handballing, cheating fu**s...'
One second, their reputation changes forever
Portugal are branded as actual divers because they go down to the floor when they have not been fouled, looking for free kicks, as do the Italians.
Proving my point
C Ronaldo goes down easy when he has been fouled, but he also goes down when he hasn't been touched sometimes, that's why he is branded as a diver.
Messi on the other hand goes down easy when he has been fouled, and suggesting otherwise would be moronic, but he never goes down when he has not been fouled, that's the key difference, and hence forth he is not branded as a diver.
Pit Messi or Ronaldo against a single defender in the penalty area in the World Cup Final, he will not need to cheat
If they do, they will be remembered as 'the cheater' not 'the guy who won them the penalty'
I don't agree with Messi going down easy when fouled, but it is a flaw in the game which is exploited by some (Ronaldo, going down when not fouled) and used by others (Messi)
If the refereeing system could be sorted it would be possible to eradicate one or both forms
I can think of millions of examples like this. Spain and Brazil both have many players who go down easy and take the free kick, and I wouldn't say either or their nations have been tarnished in the fashion you are making out.
Nor have either been presented with the World Cup Wining Opportunity your describing, Your not proving or dis-proving anything significant saying famous players dive
We know they dive, stopping them diving is the issue, the problem is far to many embrace it as a tool more than a flaw
Its an attitude issue and a systematic issue
Yes it is the refs decision to see if it is a foul or not, but sometimes he needs a helping hand and going down can be the answer for that, especially when the rules of advantage are so cloudy.
Again systematic refereeing issue, Its your responsibility to play, your interpretation on fouls is not relevant...
Just like every once and a while the ref doesn't slightly clip the ball so your pass reaches its target...
Important phrase that needs to be implimented: The referee is not always right, but he's always the referee
If you focus on playing, you will probably get the chances that cheating would bring you anyway, so let the ref do his job and you do yours
The referees cannot see everything. Look at it this way, would you say that Henry didn't cheat against Ireland just because the officials did not see him hand ball it? I did not think so.
-Henry cheated
-The ref could not see, but had no opportunity to reveiw the situation
-He had a split second to decide
-Hence he had to call it as he saw it
-Hence it was a systematic failure
What happens if Henry didn't cheat
-Henry misses the ball
-The ref calls a goalkick
And btw, Rugby is a sport where there is a video referee, you cannot cheat the ref because he has access to evidence on the spot and can punish you
Precisely, meaning soccer should be made the same
Just cause you can doesn't will you to do it!
In rugby however there are more sickening problems, such as the lack of respect for other players, such as high tackles which can put someone in a wheel chair or eye gouging which can leave someone blind
Gotta be honest, never once have I seen either of those happen/result in an injury) and I watch a fair bit of rugby (maybe a few high tackles that left people shook)
But far more people break legs in rucks and mauls when they collapse
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