Angel+Mar’s+OpEd+Article

Diving in Soccer Since we have been talking about cheating lately, I have decided to base my OpEd on cheating in soccer. Soccer, the world's most popular sport is referred to as “the beautiful game,” but is also known for mediocre soccer players faking injuries in search of a foul. Diving has plagued soccer; every time I watch soccer on weekend mornings, there are at least a couple of players diving and begging the referee for a foul. It is sickening, especially when the referee is deceived and whistles for a foul. What makes matters even worse is if the referee is completely fooled and books or even sends off the player for committing a “foul” and leaves the team at a disadvantage with 10 men on the pitch. Diving mostly happens close to the opposing team's penalty box where a player can be awarded a penalty should he be fouled within it. This can easily determine the outcome of the match with the "diving" team as the winners of the match. A moment I always recall is when the poor Aussies were a victim of diving during the '06 World Cup. They needed a tie against the powerful Italians in order to qualify to the next round, and they were seconds away from completing a huge accomplishment, but the Italians had to dive and cheat their way to victory. Poor Socceroos.

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Diving has to stop. Soccer is slowly turning into a joke as players are acting like wimps and crying for fouls in every game. Thankfully, punishment is now available for these mediocre players. However, giving a player a yellow card for trying to fool the referee isn't going to stop diving. Giving these players a fine of $5,000 when they're on a weekly-wage of $250,000 isn't going to work either. A more severe action against these players should take place. Maybe a 5 game suspension? Maybe that'll make them think twice before diving. Soccer should be played without players faking fouls and begging for a foul each minute. All it does is slow down the pace of the game and frankly, that it ruins the momentum of both teams. Soccer should be played fast-paced without wimpy players doing their theatrics and faking a foul. This is how soccer should be played; you get back up and you finish your job!  

The only time crying for a foul is acceptable is when this happens to you...



Now enjoy these GIF's of players making themselves look like wimps: