Henry

[Chaydle]

Did anyone else notice the blatant cheating of Terry Henry last night against France? He was obviously blocked off by Puyol but contact was with his chest and Scummer went down holding his face!
Reminded me of the Rivaldo incident a few years ago but I doubt Henry will be villified as much by his adoring media!

[Welsh Spur]

Revenge for Aragones' racist comments, and for the way Barca kicked him out of the CL final, coz it's the only way they could handle him. I know he's a gooner and I'm glad they lost that game but I can't stand cheating. Eto'o was always going down for the penalty, whether there was contact or not, Eboue's dive led to a goal, and there was Puyol and Marquez kicking shit out of Henry. I hate this. And while I'm on it, Marquez looked shit scared during that game...was like 'oh ****, Henry, what do i do?!?' so he and fatlips kicked him out of the game.

So Henry is not the only one, Grosso manipulated Neill and dived over him, Figo went down for **** all v Holland, should have got sent off for the headbutt, got Boulahrouz sent off, we'll have to watch the portugese scum.....or they'll cheat their way to the semis.

[marcusto]

Soon as I saw that incident it suddenly reminded me of what happened in the CL Final..... He couldn't deal with them kicking him around the part, so he tried to get Puyol sent off.

Sorry Welsh, but this is one of my major gripes... would you moan if Gerrard dived in the box to win a pen (which he has already done for England) in the last min of ET against Portugal, We Score and Win the game......

I AM NOT SAYING DIVINNG/CHEATING IS RIGHT, but the attitude can't beat em do what they do or Wenger comment comes to mind "i didn't see that" is coming into play

[Spur]

I would not like it. I would hate Gerrard forever. Which is a shame because I like Gerrard as he is our best player and should be skipper.

[Welsh Spur]

It depends. On first thought, it's a definate no. I can't condone cheating. But in a game such as Portugal, for example, if we do not expect it from them then we are the idiots. If they do it, gain a lead, then i dont see any problem with us doing it back. eye for an eye. but no-one should do it in the first place.

[JJ]

The thing is, it was definately a foul but would the ref have blown for it had Henry not gone down dramatically?

The problem with the modern game is that so many shitty little underhanded tactics by defenders go unnoticed and the only way is to be dramatic about it. Granted he shouldn't have been holding his face, but had he just bounced off him and stopped running, play would have continued.

And i've already seen many England players dive. Joe Cole and Beckham do it all the time. Owens done it, Gerrard has done it and you don't hear the pundits say a ****ing word. It sickens me how the pundits in England choose to ignore it when it's one of our own, yet they cry like bitches when Henry went down holding his face yesterday.

[Welsh Spur]

So what about the foul right at the end of the Italy/Australia game?

There's no point arguing over whether it was a foul.....IT WASN'T. It clearly shows Neill made no contact. What's clear is that he made it easy for Grosso to cheat, that he didn't take Grosso out, but so easily could have.

Grosso obviously figured this out immediately and took a rather realistic looking tumble. (On first sight I said penalty) So is it Neill's fault for committing himself or is it Grosso who's another DCI? (Dirty Cheating Italian)

[highlander]

but the reply to the english players 'diving' is that the didnt blatantly dive a la robben pretty much every game, they just made the most of the situation. i dont like to see it but when every team in the WC is doing it and worse, it is hugely disadvantageous not to.

[JJ]

So what about the foul right at the end of the Italy/Australia game?

There's no point arguing over whether it was a foul.....IT WASN'T. It clearly shows Neill made no contact. What's clear is that he made it easy for Grosso to cheat, that he didn't take Grosso out, but so easily could have.

Grosso obviously figured this out immediately and took a rather realistic looking tumble. (On first sight I said penalty) So is it Neill's fault for committing himself or is it Grosso who's another DCI? (Dirty Cheating Italian)

Well, you pretty much answered it yourself. If it wasn't a foul, then it can only be cheating by the Italians. But this wouldn't be the first time they've done it so it's not very surprising.

[JJ]

but the reply to the english players 'diving' is that the didnt blatantly dive a la robben pretty much every game, they just made the most of the situation. i dont like to see it but when every team in the WC is doing it and worse, it is hugely disadvantageous not to.

I'm not so sure. Diving is diving, Robben is just shit at it so it looks blatant.

[LEEBOYSPUR]

Neill was naive, and ruined what had been an otherwise sound tournament for him. Grosso dived - I am convinced the Italians are taught this as kids - how can a country known for rough justice and hard blokes (Mafia, Red Brigades etc) produce a seemingly endless supply of floppy-haired, Alice-band wearing, limp wristed pirima donnas with glass ankles and suspect abililty to retain saliva in their mouths I do not know........

Totti is the worst for me. ****ing disgrace of a player and a man.

[Welsh Spur]

I hope the Italians were ashamed during the second half when one of their players had the ball at his feet in the aussies box, and was surrounded by about 5 aussies yet no-one would make a challenge coz they knew he'd hit the deck. ****in italian ******s.

[marcusto]

Sorry Welsh taken a bit of offense to that

At no point am condoning diving

Yeah cause no other nation dives... lol

The worst in the whole competition have to be the Dutch... no question Mark Van Bommel is possibley the worst diver I haver ever seen...

Can I point out that Bressiano over the top rolling when Matterazzi challenge... If that was Terry everyone would be screaming its an absolute criminal that Mark Bressiano would do that.... Also Bressiano could of given away the penalty, when he tried to haul down Grosso!

Lets Put A Cole in this situation.... England down to 10 men... dodgy sending off.... A Cole legging it down the Wing, getting pulled back by the player on the wing, then shrugs him off....... Lucas Niell dives 2 footed in front of him... of course he would go over...

Now of course we all would be saying that was def pen and great to see us go through

But its these blinkered views that p*$$ me off... cause A Cole... Gerrard.... J Cole... a number of other English players never dive.... Even for Spurs Lee, Davids e.t.c have dived to get an advantage...

[highlander]

Lucas Niell dives 2 footed in front of him... of course he would go over.....

it wasnt a 2-footed challenge though, a 2-footer is a whole diferent situation, sometimes you need to go over with a 2-footer to avoid serious injury. Lucas Niell slide in with 1 foot and still no contact was made with the foot

[marcusto]

sorry ok the player still went to ground..... that just invites the attacker to take a tumble... ask Alan Shearer or Dennis Bergkamp they were good at that.... As a good defender u must know to stay on your feet in the box unless u are 100% certain u can make the challenge

What p*$$3s me off is the fact if A Cole did that we would screaming for a penalty and if we converted the pen we all be Celebrating.... and if you tell u wouldn't be... cause I would be.... Cause i've seen this happen number of times... if at a live game in the Stadium or in the Pub..

[highlander]

yeah i would have celebrated the pen if i was italian or if ashely cole did the same thing. but this goes back to what i said before about the state of the game so it would be a huge disadvantage for us not to take advantage of these situations when all the other nations do. its not blatant cheating its just levelling up the playing field when teams will gladly disreguard sportsmanship and the rules of the game in order to gain an advantage

[Spur]

Don't hate the player hate the game.

[Chinaman]

Sportsmanship? I think the word disappeared from the dictionary long ago.

[marcusto]

exactly... Its down to the State of the game.... Its when Managers, Fans, FA's and Players turn a blind eye to the cheating by their own team... yet manage to go berserk about other clubs/countries doing it...

Surely we need to be whiter than white b4 crying and moaning about other teams....If we can't then surely cheating will never stop....

Enforce tougher punishments.... i.e if you are caught cheating 3 match ban... same as a red card... constant diving 10 game... I dunno just get tough on cheating

Do reckon Robben was bothered by a Yellow card or a £5000 fine... lol no

[Chinaman]

For over a hundred years, the game was fine and as soon as they start to dither with the laws of the game, everything has become worse, such as the off-side rule. It is silly to say Henri wasn't interfering with play in Frances's second goal when he was in the middle, and his very presence would have been divided the defenders' attention. And what the heck is a player doing on the field if he is not interfering with play in some capacity.

I think a lot of controversy can be avoided if they go back to the old off-side rule.

And they are booking people and giving very soft penalties when all the pushing, grabbing and shirt-tucking go on as legitimate action during corners and other dead ball situations. If we really want to see attacking footie and more goals, they should be much stricter in penalizing these.

[Welsh Spur]

What p*$$3s me off is the fact if A Cole did that we would screaming for a penalty and if we converted the pen we all be Celebrating.... and if you tell u wouldn't be... cause I would be.... Cause i've seen this happen number of times... if at a live game in the Stadium or in the Pub..

Nothin to do with England, I'm slagging off Italians who were playing Aussies. Also, in Italy they probably have reacted to Materazzi's red card as we would to Terry's in a similar situation.

[Yiddo]

My Twopennorth:

Referees should be much harsher on 'acceptable' offences , e.g. arms round opponents at corners , shirt tugging.

There should be an official video panel after every premiership game to look for cheating.
First offence - Retrospective red card for player
Second offence - 5 match ban for player.
Third offence - season ban for player and 3 point deduction for team.
Also points deductions after 5 offences by different players on the same team.

[Welsh Spur]

My Twopennorth:

Referees should be much harsher on 'acceptable' offences , e.g. arms round opponents at corners , shirt tugging.

There should be an official video panel after every premiership game to look for cheating.
First offence - Retrospective red card for player
Second offence - 5 match ban for player.
Third offence - season ban for player and 3 point deduction for team.
Also points deductions after 5 offences by different players on the same team.

I understand what you're saying and a form your suggestion could be adapted i think, but a season ban and 3 point deduction for a third offence? (i'm assuming u mean red card by this) thats just too harsh!

[Yiddo]

I mean a third time in a season that a player is caught cheating. I dont think its harsh, it also means that the club is punished as well as the player as we all know that if the managers told players not to play act and dive it would stop overnight. I believe that cheating is the worst thing about the game at the moment and the penalties for getting caught should be hars enough to stop it happening.

[Welsh Spur]

Yeah, I get the idea. I mean if I was Arjen Robben, and these rules were put in place, I don't think I'd do it again. :)