[Hutch]

deg0ey, on 17 July 2010 - 04:02 PM, said:

Hmmm. When I first saw that Iniesta incident shown above, I was also outraged at how blatant his dive was. However, having watched it back a couple of times, it seems that when Van Der Wiel doesn't make contact with the player by swinging his leg at him, he appears to lean forward and swing his arm at Iniesta's foot to make up for it.

Whether or not there was actually any contact I can't decide and to be honest, Iniesta was probably going to go down regardless. Although I do think it's a good snapshot of how neither team wanted to play fair: The Spanish by going all out to deceive the referee and the Dutch opting for the unnecessarily hard challenges.

have a look at the other video in this thread, the one with Pique and Fabregas.

[Arq]

stride, on 16 July 2010 - 08:59 PM, said:

please could someone explain to me what it is about the Spanish that would appear to exempt them from rules that apply to players from any other country? seriously, i don't hate Spain as a country, i've got no axe to grind with Spanish people, but Spanish football is something else again. whether it's the way the financial rules are bent (or simply pushed aside) to favour Real Madrid and Barcelona, the slap on the wrist fines handed out to Spanish managers, players and so on accused of racism, the astoundingly over the top adoration of the way they play the game, the tendency to overlook or even dismiss the petulance, diving, the card-waving and the rest of the antics that are an integral part of Spanish football .. and now this.. "you have to remember they've just won the World Cup".

yes we know they have. well so what?

Well said stride.

I would really like to know this as well. Maybe I'm odd and maybe I'll get flamed for this, but I could see the argument that the way the Spanish play is the real anti-football. The diving, the card-waving, the antics just scream against the basic premise of the game. It's not that they want to play, but they want to play the system. F that.

Watching the video of Iniesta's dive was one thing (the more I see it, the more I rage over it... I despise blatant diving and it doesn't matter if it's Chelsea, Germany, or some other team I don't follow. I just hate diving.). Seeing Pique's actions disgusts me. I know that a lot happens elsewhere but wtf was that all about? Show some class people.

They obviously have talent, and truthfully enough to be the best in the World. They always seem to escape judgment for some of their over-the-top actions and a lot of people buy into it. It's tiring.

[dkw]

It was the same with the way they reacted at the Bridge a few years ago, it was a total whitewash. They were picking fights with stewards, wrecked the dressing room, claiming racist abuse, chased the ref etc yet nothing at all was done. I still cant believe the easy ride they got after that night.