Drama Queens

Or

I really don't like the Argentina side. For a team that is so skillful and obviously able to win on their own merits they really like to make sure of it by cheating like hell. It's the diving: the looks of practised agony etched on their faces as they hurl themselves to the ground clutching various body parts, looking around hopefully for a penalty or a yellow card for the opposing team. Of course as soon as it's successful, up they get as good as new. I hate watching it. Sure individual players on other teams do it, but for the Argentines it's team tactics, part of their winning strategy.

On their side is the fact that the World Cup referees are more likely to rule against a team that is not favoured to win. I guess it's about risk: your decisions are less likely to be questioned if the team you ruled against had less of a chance of winning. A classic example is referee Massimo Busacca's downright wrongful decision to send off Vladislav Vaschuk in the Spain vs Ukraine match yesterday. The red card two minutes into the second half that even the Spanish looked amazed at took away any chance of a fight, and along with it any chance of a good match. Ukraine were roundly flogged 4-0, and referee Busacca's howler of a decision was given a benign half a line in The World Game website's match report.

Argentina are a great side, but as far as I'm concerned they're unwatchable as long as all the bullshit they pull is left unpunished. Once referees start issuing yellow cards for diving the whole Argentine team would probably be sent home in disgrace, but maybe they'd learn their lesson for next time and let us watch football instead of an opera.