There’s no doubt Eduardo is a very talented footballer. But who knew he was a talented diver? Olympian Greg Louganis would have quaked in his boots if he had to face Eduardo in competition. The Croatian international would have received a 10.0 from every single judge for his dive in the Champions League at the Emirates last night. I think we all agree there was miniscule contact between Eduardo and Art Boruc, the Celtic goalkeeper. It was no way a penalty.
Unfortunately, these things happen in football. And they will continue to happen unless instant replay is introduced for questionable activity inside the penalty area. If instant replay was in effect, the referee would probably have reversed his decision and it would have been a goal kick to Celtic. This rule and goal line technology could help ensure the right decisions are made and that fans won’t be left wondering or broken hearted.
Having said that, isn’t the broken heart and the wondering part of the game? Don’t we love to complain and evaluate it all? Don’t we love to count the injustices? The outrages decisions? Or are we starting to feel jaded from all that? Are we tired of the drama? Do we need change? Is the cost of losing too great?
We see these actions and decisions in the penalty area a lot throughout the season. Eduardo didn’t do anything new here people. Like many other players have done and will do, Eduardo seized an opportunity for his team and now everyone including me is labeling him a diver. I would like to go on record and say that I believe only on this occasion is Eduardo a diver. I watch a lot of Arsenal games and he doesn’t usually partake in the Hollywood theatrics.
So if we know Hollywood has crept into our game and players are taking advantage of potential penalty situations like Eduardo did, does that make it cheating?
I hate when this happens in football. But typical Arsenal always cheating. I hear he might be getting a 2 match Champions League ban for this. I think Good. we need to stop this happening. It is not fair on other teams. Decisions like this destroy seasons. I dont see what can be done to stop it. Introducing video technolgy will lose the heart of the game. Stoping and starting the game will be so annoying and it is true what you say, what will we have to complain about?? I think Eduardo should now think long and hard about booking himself on a train to Straford for the Olympics come 2012. Could win Gold in diving!
I think they chose the wrong player to make an example of. Eduardo is a good guy who got caught up in the moment. There are serial divers in the game who have never been punished and continue to fool referees week in, week out. Seems to me as though Platini has a vendetta against British teams. He doesn’t want them being owned by Arab entrepreneurs, he doesn’t want them being in the semi-finals of the Champions League and he always has something to complain about. It’s a shoddy situation all the way around.
The technology would take just a minute to decipher. No longer than when a referee goes over to the lino to chat about stuff. They have the ear piece now too, so the process would be quick.
Eduardo was wrong. There’s no doubt about that. But let’s be consistent about these so-called investigations and the decisions made from them.
Lets start with the dive, never thought Eduardo would do this, never looked the type. You say there are serial divers and i totally agree, they should be looked at, but you have to start somewhere, one dive could lead to more. Celtic were never gonna win that game anyway.
Platini really does have something against the british teams, he just doesnt want to see them succeed, and that is why he is making an example out of Eduardo. But i like the idea of capping the money spent, which i know its something they are considering. Rumour is, that you will be only able to spend what you make not what you can get your hands on.
Video technology im up for too, goal line decisions. what they should do is put a chip in the ball have a sensor running through the bar/posts and if it passes it will register, no wasting time talking to anyone, and they should show penalty decisions on the big screen, that would be fun.