Soccer/Football – Faking

As any Australian will tell you, faking in soccer ruins the game. We experienced a poor referee decision to award a penalty kick for a fall in the 2006 World Cup. It cost us the game and sent us packing earlier than expected. But that's the game so we've been told. Well that's a lack luster excuse, the game should not involve B-grade acting for free kicks.

My belief is simple, those who act for free kicks are not the best players on the field, they are just the same as quitters and any other form of cheating. They know they cannot and can't be bothered winning a play on their own merits. So instead they take a dive and usually hold the wrong part of their body in 'pain'.

How the referee does not see the blatant cheating is beyond me. I've seen players pretend to be tripped and on the way down they hold their head. Others will fall holding their shins, and I've worn shin guards in soccer before and never felt more than a slight thud when kicked, so even in a real situation it doesn't hurt.

Australian soccer is pretty much the fairest form of the game, you'll never see a Socceroo take a dive and more often than not, even when their is real contact, they get up and keep playing for the ball. That is the true definition of a soccer player with talent. Everyone else is over payed posers.

If soccer wants to gain respect from those of us who are not fully fledged fans, then rid the sport of its dark shadows.