Tuesday, January 09, 2007

And this didn't even happen in France . . .

In its official report on the 2006 World Cup, FIFA admonished participants for the "deplorable habit that involves players staying down for no apparent reason after minor collisions."

Like most Americans, I've always found the diving and injury faking ingrained in the culture of world class soccer off-putting, and I applaud FIFA for making an effort to get rid of it.

Although, if this video is indicative of a trend, FIFA may have an another sort of problem involving on-the-field deception it needs to address.


Soccer players aren't known for their hand-to-eye coordination but, after the initial contact, the only way the two combatants in this soccer "fight" from Spain could possibly miss so many punches is by a secret deal not to hit each other.

Stateside, Carmelo Anthony caught a lot of flack for his punch-and-run technique, but send him to Spain and his mere ability to make solid contact would make him the gangster he likes to think of himself as.

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