Falling over themselves

Over a fortnight after the event newspaper columns, TV broadcasts and radio airwaves remain filled with talk of diving. Possibly fuelled by Eduardo being part of the Croatia side which took on England at Wembley this evening the Arsenal forward remains a popular cut and paste option on keyboards.

However, is it fair that his name is the one most linked with the act of simulation? Also on the field and not made virtuous by his crisp white kit is Wayne Rooney.

There is no doubt that Eduardo put in one of the most outrageous examples of this type gamesmanship seen in recent weeks given that he seemed to make his way round Artur Boruc’s fingertips then reacted as if his heels had been clipped.

Arsenal would have won the tie without the theatrics but possibly had the game taken away from them over the weekend which followed when Rooney collided with Manuel Almunia. There was a crucial difference in that there was contact with the keeper but only because as he so often does Rooney anticipated he would run into the Almunia and did nothing more than adjust his shape to weather the clash.

There was no requirement for him to vault the oncoming Spaniard but leaving a foot in and then falling gave the referee a decision to make and due to shapes thrown by no means an easy one.

Like Eduardo the striker dusted himself down and scored the penalty but crucially the goal changed the game - its course and ultimately the result.

He did something similar for his country against Slovenia last Saturday but was less convincing about the impact. in fact TV replays would suggest there was none but Rooney‘s arms whirred in complaint to the referee - the comparative silence is deafening and many though acknowledging the debatable nature of the award praise the professionalism.

There is of course every chance that a coming together of players is totally innocent in intent from both the attacker and defender. This was the case at the Reebok Stadium in Liverpool’s last league game when Fernando Torres was stopped by a fair tackle but then went to ground after the secondary contact.

Torres didn’t cradle himself in a heap nor use gestures or appeal. Though prone for a period he got back to his feet. There were no shouts from any direction than those of a hopeful nature in the stands amongst the visiting fans. No one in a red shirt looked to do anything other than continue though with the controversy fresh in their minds the Bolton defenders made their thoughts known to the referee imploring that a booking be made.

When caught on the day diving is punishable by only a yellow card. The retrospective sanction of a two match ban is available for the same offence according to UEFA.

It fails to make for good justice or much sense but when have those been in huge supply at UEFA headquarters?