Routine Ruse in Men’s Soccer Tumbles Into Women’s World Cup

(Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images) The Brazilian defender Erika after she dropped to the turf in overtime.

By JERÉ LONGMAN
NYT

COLOGNE, Germany — There often seems to be more diving in soccer than in the Summer Olympics. Phantom contact, or the slightest collision, can lead to theatrical belly flops and exaggerated somersaults by players deceptively trying to draw fouls on their opponents, kill time or catch a breather when tired. A player writhes on the ground, seemingly unable to continue, and is whisked away on a stretcher, only to return moments later, miraculously healed.

At least that’s the routine in the men’s game. Viewers of the Women’s World Cup semifinals Wednesday may notice that, by comparison, the fake collapses are scarce — a curious distinction between the two games that raises tricky questions. Do female players compete with more integrity? Or has the women’s game simply not caught up with the men yet?

“I actually think women don’t like that side of the game,” said Julie Foudy, a former United States national team captain. “But my cynical side tells me that as women get more sophisticated and watch the game more and the stakes get higher, it will become more prevalent.”

The act of diving, as the fake falls are called, is crafty or cynical, artful gamesmanship or outright cheating, depending on one’s view. Although the use of the ruse was clearly evident on Sunday during the United States’ riveting World Cup quarterfinal victory over Brazil, the relative lack of this tactic in women’s soccer was captured in a study conducted at Wake Forest University. Researchers determined that women were much less likely than men to dive and fake injuries, an act also known as simulation.

(More here.)