I watched the Aussies play Paraguay on Friday morning.I saw Paraguayan players rolling around on the pitch clutching their leg, writhing in absolute agony, after they had tripped over their own feet in a tackle. Then came a crafty little look to see if the ref had seen it. If no free kick was given they were up and about, miraculously cured,a minute later.
Membership of Actors Equity union should be made compulsory for these guys. This sort of performance is a blight on what used to be, when I was a lad, a great game.
This sort of behaviour reminded me of the racket (raquet???) smashing antics of the overpaid, egotistic, darlings at Wimbledon.
This is sport in 2026? No way.
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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits."
Cheating is an accepted part of the game in South America. We only need to remember how Maradona was lauded by the Argentinian public despite his "hand of God" incident. If any Australian player had committed such a disgraceful act, he would have been ostracised back home. If you doubt that, just remember the personal fallout from the ball tampering affair.
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
"I watched the Aussies play Paraguay on Friday morning.I saw Paraguayan players rolling around on the pitch clutching their leg, writhing in absolute agony, after they had tripped over their own feet in a tackle. Then came a crafty little look to see if the ref had seen it. If no free kick was given they were up and about, miraculously cured,a minute later.
Membership of Actors Equity union should be made compulsory for these guys. This sort of performance is a blight on what used to be, when I was a lad, a great game."
With you on that one.
Cannot watch the stupid game. Mainly because of the acting that mars the matches.
Watched a match for 3 or 4 minutes a few days ago and switched channels quickly.
All I saw was a fullback passing to the keeper who passed it to another fullback who passed it back to the keeper etc etc.
Thought, this $^#& is boring......click - over.
Have better things to do in my super busy retirement!!!!
Also agree with Peter n Margaret, the ball tamperers should have got life.
It was orchestrated and wrong, they knew what they were doing was wrong and cheating.
Don't know if the captain knew of the plan pre game day, but definitely the other two should have got life.
The younger "new boy" player should have stood up to the main perpetrator and said no.
We will probably never know if that team was rotten from the top down, or from the bottom up???
Cheating is an accepted part of the game in South America. We only need to remember how Maradona was lauded by the Argentinian public despite his "hand of God" incident. If any Australian player had committed such a disgraceful act, he would have been ostracised back home. If you doubt that, just remember the personal fallout from the ball tampering affair.
Underarm bowling was legal at the time.
Wasn't cheating, but was possibly the worst act of sportsmanship ever by an Australian.
Rod Marsh intervened but was not listened to.
When a senior player on the team is ignored when he warns of the consequences, then there was an obvious problem at the top.
The other issue in that instance was, I think it was Chatfield, his chances of hitting the last ball for six were a million to one!!!!
I adhere strictly to the rules of golf each week, but I often wonder if I am playing on a level playing field and getting knocked off by those who may not be in the same paddock of morals?
"Mexican fans gathered outside Ecuadors team hotel using loudspeakers, horns and motorcycles to disturb their rest, ahead of their round of 32 knockout match. The Ecuadorian soccer federation said it has filed a formal complaint with organizers."
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
