The spectre of diving in football reared its ugly head again this Premiership weekend with Zokora being the latest of foreign imports to take a theatrical tumble and win his side an unfair advantage.
However, as much as Steven Gerrard would like to think that diving is a ‘foreign’ phenomenon, the sad truth is that English players dive as well.
Gerrard is guilty of it, Beckham did it recently and even Wayne Rooney has been accused of diving.
Speaking of which, it’s a bit rich that Rooney comes out with this quote:
“I’d never dive. I’d like to think of myself as an honest player. That’s the way I play. I don’t like diving, football doesn’t need it.”
(read the full article – which is not really about diving but Rooney returning to England colors and a lot of filler material)
Now I’m not usually a picky guy, but this raises an interesting question – should we take Wayne Rooney on face value and say that yes, he’s never dived, or should we investigate the matter further?
That is the famous ‘dive’ against Arsenal in the 04/05 season that won Manchester United a penalty and eventually helped us win 2-0. Broke their 49-game unbeaten streak, etc etc. Dive? No dive? You decide.
Unknown game, but the way Rooney lurches in mid-air is reminiscent of other famous divers such as Gerrard and Henry. Note that this video is edited by a person who’s obviously not fond of Wayne Rooney so the whole incident is over-emphasised, and this is more of a 50-50 case than a clear-cut dive. But those are the big ones, no?
As a Manchester United fan I’m loathe to call Rooney a diver but then again we’ve had big, big stars dive and after a while you really lose your trust in them (the final straw for me was Beckham’s dive…).
So what do you guys think?
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