What is Diving in Football (Soccer)?

Everyone in the world universally hates a cheater, but unfortunately they exist even in the highest levels of play in a number of sports. Soccer is no different. The temptations to cheat can be very high when your entire country is counting on your to win against your rivals. Emotions can easily get high and next thing you know you've either knocked someone down (possibly with your head as Zidane famously did in the 2006 World Cup final) or, worse still, you take a dive.

What is diving in soccer?

Quite simply, diving is falling down and pretending to be hurt in order to draw a foul. Typically this occurs when an offensive player is in or near the goal box and a defender is nearby, about to take the ball from him. Instead of facing the music and losing the ball, some players choose to fall hard against the ground as if pushed and hold their legs as if their bone marrow had been replaced with magma. Many times, a wise referee will ignore the actions of the apparently dying player, but often his very embarrassing displays will pay off and a penalty will be awarded.

What are the thoughts on diving?

Most everyone agrees that diving is unsportsmanlike and childish, though supporters tend to ignore when it happens to their own players, claiming endlessly that they weren't diving at all; they were clearly pushed. Americans viewing diving will most often judge very harshly against soccer as a whole because of it. "What kind of sport," they ask, "involves crying like a baby and holding your knee until you get a chance to score?" It is a fair criticism; certainly, but even staunch soccer fans find diving low.

Proud fans of soccer find diving an example of the corruption of what should be a beautiful sport. Because the World Cup is such an important tournament, the chances of there being some diving is very high. There are some teams that have more of a reputation for diving than others; different countries have different styles of play. At the end of the day, most fans are willing to overlook a dive if it means a victory.

So why are people so tempted to dive?

The problem with trying to stop diving completely is that it works so darn well. Scoring in soccer can be extremely difficult, with games often ending 0-0 or 1-0. A single good opportunity can make a huge difference and the rules have set it up so that a foul within the goal box is heavily penalized. When a striker falls within the red zone, he is awarded a penalty kick: one free kick at the goal, placed very close, with only the keeper between him and a point for his team. Most of these penalties easily turn into goals--it is essentially a miracle for a keeper to stop a goal from this close, and when it happens that keeper is the hero of the team.

Naturally, though, the difficulty with dives is knowing what is a dive and what isn't. Because one wants the penalty if one is really pushed, those players also tend to writhe around on the ground. If they just got up and tried to limp back into the game, the referee might not call the foul, or so the logic goes. I personally have a great respect for the players who get back up after being pushed as quickly as possible. These players play for the game, not just to win.

For this next World Cup, it is almost certain that a few games will be decided by questionable calls. Understanding the strategy and opinions behind this will make it easier for you to enjoy the drama.