Soccer

Why Diving In Soccer Is Acutely American

It’s tough to find an American that supports diving in soccer. But the epidemic isn’t going away anytime soon, and the issue is overblown. If you’re an American that refuses to watch soccer, I can’t force you to change. But don’t stay away from the Beautiful Game because of diving.

I understand the complaints, but you need to look beyond the surface. Diving, flopping, embellishing — whatever you want to call it — is understandable, hyperbolized and the players are fine just how they are.

And one more thing: it’s American.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a fan of diving. But given the circumstances, players are smart to do it. And as long as they don’t take it too far, I support their right to embellish contact.

Gary Neville, a famous ex-footballer (he of 400 caps for Manchester United and 85 for the English national team, and now a TV analyst) explains it best:

“I’m hoping he’s not gonna stick a lazy leg out (in the European Championships) because he’ll be going home and nobody will feel sorry for him. So, he’s got to learn from that, move his feet. You know, you plant your leg in the box and do that, you know full well you’re gonna be asking for trouble…And he gave Ashley Young an opportunity to get the penalty…I mean, he goes to ground easily, makes the most of it, dives, whatever expression you want to use… Ashley Young did to win that penalty.

But he did what I think 95% of players would do in that situation, and that is go to the ground to get a penalty.

It’s economics. It’s utilitarian. The players know the potential benefits (a penalty and a very-likely goal) vastly outweigh the potential costs (the unlikely booking/suspension/whistle for diving). It makes more sense to dive for a likely goal, with small risk, rather than lose the ball after being fouled in the box. Scoring chances aren’t that frequent in soccer, and a foul in the box needs to be taken advantage of. How can you blame a player, who is about to squander a scoring chance, for going down and forcing a penalty? If he can pull it off, all the power to him.

When diving is merely making the referee notice a foul rather than fighting to stay up, it’s more-than-understandable. In the penalty area, it’s almost inarguable. If it takes holding your leg and wincing for a foul to be noticed, so be it.

And for Americans to reject it is even stranger. We naively sat through the Steroid Era, cheering at all the home runs. But then, the playing field wasn’t level. Even if the high estimates of steroid use are correct, there were plenty of non-users. In soccer, everyone can dive. It’s up to the player to do it at the right time, do it dramatically enough, effectively and to not overuse it (lest he get a repuation). Whether you like it or not, it’s a skill, and something that everyone has the opportunity to attempt.

It already exists in American sports, too. In basketball, players flop and exaggerate fouls. So do hockey players. In football, receivers and defensive backs feign pass interference. In baseball, Derek Jeter –who’s name almost can’t appear unless it’s alongside “plays the game the right way”– acts like he’s been hit by a pitch. It happens everywhere.

It’s not tattle-taling; it’s not cheating. This isn’t failing to pay your taxes. You’re not screwing anyone over except the other team. But that’s sports. You don’t care about the other team’s feelings. You care about winning. You use whatever competitive advantages you have at your disposal.

If you go to McDonalds and they put mayonaise on your burger when you wanted it sans-mayo, are you supposed to keep quiet? The worker fouled you in the box, and you want them to notice it. Their feelings might be hurt, but who cares? You have one opportunity to eat your burger, and you’ll be damned if you don’t enjoy it.

Again, it’s not ideal. But this isn’t an ideal world, and sports are no exception. Oftentimes, especially in places like Italy, diving is taking place far-too-often, in far-too-extreme circumstances. Hell, when I played High School soccer, a foreign-exchange school had their right back drop to the ground beside me and yelp in pain every time the referee turned his back. Did it piss me off? Yeah. But I sucked it up, because there was nothing I could do. You make the best of the cards you’re dealt.

Neville sums it up best:

“I’m not condoning (diving). I’d like to go back to the playground, where if you go down to the ground, the only thing you got was a grazed knee… (but) I don’t know what we can actually do to get this out of the game.

This is not just about one instance… this is every single game of football with the greatest players in the world that do this.”

He’s right. Nothing can be done. Suspending players is too difficult. They’ve tried it, but it doesn’t work. You can tell the players, but it’s not in their best interest to listen. The players accept that it’s a part of the game. They’ll do whatever it takes to win, as they’ve been taught since birth.

And seriously, diving is American. Americans love scoring, as evidenced by the no hand-check rule in basketball, the Steroid Era’s popularity in baseball, the post-lockout rules in the NHL and the five-yard rule for defensive backs in the NFL. Americans care about offense. Diving sets up set-pieces. Set pieces equal goals. Goals equal happy Americans. Diving equals more-exciting soccer. Isn’t that what you care about?

You can’t complain about low-scoring soccer games and diving. That’s hypocritical. That’s un-American.

Follow Matt Rudnitsky