Penalty? Red? Or Major Dive? Watch the Video

I can understand the ref giving it a penalty it was hard to tell that was a dive, but giving the goalie a red card was bull.

France will qualify from the playoff’s I know they will.

DIVE.

That Jeff commenting in the previous post was not me.

Total dive.

Awful dive!

I just watch the match, and that was a total dive!

I am more upset about that being a red card. There have been numerous matches where keeper just gets a yellow.

Eduardo got banned. Shouldn’t Zigic get a ban as well.

DIVE DIVE DIVE!!!!! Love the leg drag! Lloris doesnt EVEN touch him. Another reason we need 2 refs on the pitch…something I have been grumbling about in the past -

http://thebeantownfrog.blogspot.com/2009/03/future-of-footie.html

Yeah, the diver should have been booked for simulation. Otherwise, the penalty was a wake up call to the dormant French squad. Henry carried them as per usual and they put up a good fight. Lassana Diarra & Toulalan played on hell of a game. They definitely gave it their all.

Damn that ref to hell, for missing that call, and for allowing the match to degenerate into a rugby scrum. The only person deserving of more scorn is Anelka, who (twice now) has passed up open teammates for a goofy shot at goal. Could Gourcuff have been any more open today? The TV5/Monde commentators were hilarious, and unstinting in their lambasting of Anelka after that play. He should be ashamed of himself.

Henry was, far and away, the best player on the pitch. And can someone please, please tell me why Abidal was paired in the center with Gallas, when that worthless Evra was polluting the wing with his ineptitude?

But they still won’t fire Ruh Roh. Playoffs are our only hope now, and with that twit at the helm, I hold no hope.

Emmanuel Petit minces no words and the Anelka moments were funny.

UEFA playoff, how many will go to WC2010?

Aku, there are nine groups and thirteen total spots. So obviously the winners from each group will go on.

Then the top eight (of nine) second-place teams will go onto playoffs in November. These eight will be divided into pairs — seeding procedure is uncertain. These pairs play a home-and-away series against each other, with winners advancing.

Or, short answer, four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA)#Ranking_of_second-placed_teams

Just added this link to the post. It’s the video from the FFF site with multiple slo-mo angles. http://www.fff.fr/mediatheque/bleu/530374.shtml

Was it a dive? YES. Was it a red, considering the referee incorrectly (but innocently missed the dive)? YES. Will FIFA/UEFA ban Zigic? NO.

It could still all go terribly wrong, of course, but it’s interesting to compare what Capello has done with the ‘culture’ surrounding the England team as compared with that of his predecessors of many years.

I’m not sure, but I’d be willing to bet that Domenech gets about 1/10th the salary of Fabio. But then if you want quality, sometimes you gotta pay for it. And if no suitable candidate is forthcoming, the FFF look beyond the borders of France. Hah!

I missed the dive, only catching the game from about the 20-minutes mark.

But I loved much of what I saw yesterday. The team was a collective repudiation to those that claim they don’t care or “are not French enough”. Those guys had the spirit–particularly Henry! But kudos also to Gallas, Evra–it was his cross that led to the goal–Lassana, and, yes, Anelka, too.

It’s a shame Domenech has not yet found and settled on a partner for Gallas. And, unless were playing Brazil/Spain, I’ll never be sold on the double defensive midfielders …

… still, I haven’t given up on these guys. And something good may come of them yet!

well, Laurie, when i first saw the incident yesterday( highlights of France serbia after watching the Itali-Bulgaria match), i thought it was a valid penalty and being the last man, it was a red card offense, but now as i observe the replays from various angles, i must admit that iam doubting the call..Note where our referee was, i mean it was a tough call for him to make..Zigic beat the goalie for the ball and as the goalie´s right arm comes up, he falls without touch at all but the angle and fast motion makes it difficult for rossetti…Unlucky for France but i though France deserved to win even with 10 men..Dont worry, you will make the playoffs…iam glad boy oh boy that finally for the first tiem in the qualifiers, Italia played a magnificent first half and we are almost there..

If you use your body to impede an opponent without playing the ball, you are guilty of obstruction. As soon as Lloris stuck out his arms in front of Zigic’s legs and didn’t reach the ball, it was a penalty and a red unless Zigic somehow managed to still score.

To everyone who included the word “dive” in their comment: if you think Zigic should have hurdled over Lloris’s arms while letting the ball run away from him instead of going down like he did, then I have some lucrative business propositions for you.

Then Yevy, why did he drag his feet and fall as if he’d been shot? If it’s an actual foul, you don’t really need to sell it so much, yes?

Eduardo got two games off for this, which isn’t all that far off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rgjqgt-4wQ

Actually, now that I looked at both again, I take it back: It’s every bit as shameful as Eduardo’s dive, because Eduardo didn’t do as much method acting stuff with the arms, appealing to the officials and drawing attention even as he swan-dives for the pitch.

Kxevin, it is an actual foul whether he sells it or not. Zigic went down because he knows as well as you and I that the referee is far less likely to blow the whistle if he stayed on his feet, as I am sure he could. But why on earth should he take the chance and let the keeper possibly benefit from a clear foul? How many times have you seen a forward get held or blocked in the box, stay with the ball, end up in a worse position and lose a good scoring chance and thought, had he just gone down when the foul happened he’d be at the spot right now.

You are right, it is a lot like the Eduardo situation, except for a couple crucial differences. Boruc pulled his arms and body out of the way at the last moment, leaving Eduardo flailing over thin air, while Lloris stuck his arms into Zigic’s path and made himself an obstacle. Zigic motioned for a penalty that he earned, while Eduardo knew full well he got played by Boruc and played dead.

“If you use your body to impede an opponent without playing the ball”

He certainly played the ball, but didn’t reach it, by maybe 2 inches.

Zigic had pushed his ball a little far and while he could have ran past Lloris, he would have had a tight angle to push it in. So he prefered the easy way and fell.

Swan Dive.

My man was hit by a sniper.

Wiped out.

Larger-than-life force flattens this guy.

That monster in the sand in the Return of the Jedi, it got hold of his leg.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

What ref bought THAT?

That was the weakest-ass dive I’ve seen in a long time. TOTALLY OBVIOUS. NOBODY was fooled by that flop, and that whole, “My knee is locked” routine.

The whole thing was pathetic. Not even the guy’s parents thought it was a foul.

But the ref bought the whole thing.

Incredible.

@nice li hung

hi i like your comparison of a football scwalbe with a jedi , may the force be with you

the question: is it a dive is the dumbest question i eva heard roflllllllllllroflflfllfrofffffffl

but in what position is france now, we have 2 matches, if we draw them both, are we through the play-offs? smart question huh

it would be fun (not really) to see toulalan VS arshavin or benzema VS turk in the playoffs

titi dive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTGfyV_mgUk