Drogba in full flight at 2006 world cup
Foul simulation says a lot about a player or team. It is a good indicator that they have “street smarts” on the field. Whether it is an attempt to give your team a free kick, waste time, or persuade the ref into giving an opponent a yellow card, the idea is to give your team an edge.
A lot of people in this country just focus on the superficial part of player’s diving – it is labeled as cheating.
Whether it is defined as cheating or not doesn’t matter.
The only thing to consider is diving exists. It is part of the game whether we like it or not.
If a player or team wants to take the high road and not participate in this practice, good for them and I wish them the best. In the mean time, they might find themselves watching the “smart” team lifting trophies.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
umm yea it is smart. ask facundo
Haha rommi,
Facundo fooled the ref less than half the time. He needs a lot of practice!
Hey Gary, I was just wondering. Is it good to dive more than half the time you get “fouled” ? And when is the best time to dive?
What’s up Ben!
You ask a very interesting and tough question. It depends on many factors:
1) The referee.
2) Are you going to lose possession?
3) Do you want to slow the game down?
4) Do you want to try to get the other player a yellow or red?
5) Does your team need a free kick in the opponents final third?
And the list goes on and on. There are so many scenarios to consider, and the correct decision to “dive / exaggerate” is a split second one that comes with experience.
I’ll touch on point #1 (the ref), and leave the others for separate articles …
You have to judge what “kind” of referee you have. Is he calling any tiny foul? If so, no need for diving.
If people are getting hacked and the ref isn’t calling anything, then exaggerating a foul is probably in order.
Is he pulling yellow cards like crazy? Maybe you can get an opponent a card with exaggerating …
Does the ref seem like a “no-nonsense” guy. Then you might want to be careful, because you’ll get a yellow for diving.
Again, experience and experimentation …
thanks gary!