It's not just the calls made, but the non-calls too (diving is a good example, and some teams do it far more than others). I wouldn't expect any breaks in the final four if I wasn't one of the old guard. I don't think it is deliberate on the part of FIFA, but it's human nature for refs to be intimidated by the big powers.
"Hand of God" is not a good example, because I would consider England one of the historical elites.
You want me to name a team - pick any that Italy played last time. If the dives were called properly, Italy would not have advanced over those other teams.
That's pretty subjective. Other than the outragerous dive against Australia (although the Australian defender was stupid to leave his feet and slide tackle), I can't recall an Italian dive. Also Italy received a red card against Australia for nothing.
They crushed Ukraine 3-0 easily. I can't recall any diving against Germany or France. It was the French who dove to win the penalty in the Final.
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Yeah, but you see, you're British, so you have some incentive to see old St. George win, even if it comes associated with glory for the Mancs and Chelski's.
I personally dont care if England win or not, although I'd prefer they didnt because the British media is insufferable, much like the Toronto media, all you need is England to beat Brazil or Germany and it doesnt even matter how they do the rest of the tournament.
I dislike the English media a whole bunch and then some so I completely understand where some of you are coming from here. The media has thrown Liverpool under a bus so many times, we're talking decades here, that I personally cannot stand them. I remember my dad, god rest his soul, actually breaking our TV after Jimmy Hill spouted off about King Kenny and Ian Rush one time and that was back when the Reds were actually really good.
So yeah, I get it. Just remember though, Lockie, Stevie G is the English captain now. Johnson will be a starter, and Carre will likely get on the field at some point. That's got to be worth something to you.
It's the same as me pulling for Spain too with Torres, Pepe, Alonso, and the like. I want them to do exceptionally well even though traditionally I would never pull for the Spaniards.
That's pretty subjective. Other than the outragerous dive against Australia (although the Australian defender was stupid to leave his feet and slide tackle), I can't recall an Italian dive. Also Italy received a red card against Australia for nothing.
That reminded me of this Aussie video:
Here's a really dodgy decision in qualifying that went Italy's way This one is unbelievable:
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Here's a really dodgy decision in qualifying that went Italy's way This one is unbelievable:
The Scotland one was much worse then the Australia one, inept reffing.
The Aussie one was a dive but I think it was a foul too, defender can't slide in and miss the ball like that.
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The Scotland one was much worse then the Australia one, inept reffing. The Aussie one was a dive but I think it was a foul too, defender can't slide in and miss the ball like that.
Yeah, if you watch that one closely Lucas Neill actually brings his hand back and possibly catches Grosso. Neill kills birds for fun too, as seen below, so he deserved all he got in any case:
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Alright, I think I've ragged on England enough for one day. troutman has Italy covered, whos getting a free pass....? Ah yes, Portugal! They're notorious divers as well, as Man U can attest, they missed Cristian Divealdo buying them 3 points from the spot every other week.
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Alright, I think I've ragged on England enough for one day. troutman has Italy covered, whos getting a free pass....? Ah yes, Portugal! They're notorious divers as well, as Man U can attest, they missed Cristian Divealdo buying them 3 points from the spot every other week.
Every other week?? Come on Locke, it was every week. Get it right.
Not World Cup winners, World Cup finalists. The last 7 World Cups, only 5 teams have made the final.
I wasn't arguing with you, just trying to support your point that it is hard for teams that aren't seen as "traditional powers" to be successful in the World Cup.
As for Italy diving they had one major dive that I can recall in the tournament and that was of course Grosso's against Austrailia, and like GirlySports mentioned they were given a BS red early in that game. Even then there was at least a little contact with Grosso and the defender should not have made such a stupid challenge in that position.
Italy definitely did not "dive" there way to the title in 2006, it was there strong defense that won them the championship. In fact the dive by Malouda in the final was 10 times worse then any other dive in that tournament, and the Italians were able to overcome that.
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It was his ridiculous performance rolling around on the pitch that was the most disturbing. Grow a pair.
When soccer players start rolling around like that, you know they are faking it. If you are really hurt, you aren't going to be rolling around holding your face.
Not sure Klinsman dove there, looks more like he just lost his balance. The Red card is ridiculously bad.
He jumped over and went down hard - the secondary flop/back-arch however, was quite pathetic. The red could have been based on the fact that he came in hard with studs showing at knee level.
Here's a really dodgy decision in qualifying that went Italy's way This one is unbelievable:
I remember watching this game live during Euro 2008 qualifying and just being absolutely confused as to why Italy got that free kick. Just a terrible reffing decision by the linesman on that play.
I was thrilled with the result but that was just terrible reffing. Seems that the Ireland's, and Scotland always seem to get the shaft in qualifying games.
