Flops
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Slapped With Fine For Diving
Major League Soccer has fined Zlatan Ibrahimovic an undisclosed amount for diving in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat to the Columbus Crew.
Ibrahimovic was found guilty of simulation in the 23rd minute when going for a loose ball in the box. The hulking Swede threw his body over Crew keeper Zack Steffen, who didn’t make any real contact with the Galaxy striker.
The referee waved play on with no foul called nor was Zlatan booked for the offense.
Messi Gives Wry Smile After Embellishment Following Mean Shove From Milner
Liverpool spent a lot of the first half against Barcelona chasing Lionel Messi’s backside. Fabinho will probably have nightmares of the Blaugrana No. 10 jersey always fluttering just out of his reach.
But when James Milner finally caught up to Messi at one point after the ball had gone out of bounds, he knocked the Argentine on his backside.
What ensued was a wild embellishment from Messi, who isn’t usually prone to such antics. He followed that with a cheeky smile.
Fair or foul?
Pepe Makes Edin Dzeko Collapse By Screaming 'F*** YOU' In His Face
We got 10 years of Pepe at Real Madrid, and if time weren’t such a cruel mistress, we could’ve been blessed with 10 more. I, for one, would welcome an eternal version of Pepe, a timeless incarnation of shithousery that doesn’t care about VAR now being a thing — a mad lad with his face cast in an eternal scowl, eyebrows bulging cartoonishly from his skull and always looking for fingers to stomp on and fouls suffered to greatly exaggerate.
Liverpool Is Playing Like A Real Champ (By That We Mean Getting Away With Dives And Red-Card Challenges)
Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool has become one of the most exciting teams to watch in the world. The club has fantastically prolific forwards, indefatigable midfielders, impressive defenders and a fearless goalkeeper, not to mention Bobby Firmino and his no-look goal-scoring prowess. At times, it’s almost impossible not to find joy when the Reds are on TV.
Mohamed Salah Is A Salesman And Is Challenging Neymar As The World's Best Diver
Hot take alert, folks. Mohamed Salah is the newest world class diver. Or at least embellisher. Surely he and Liverpool fans could care less, but the Egyptian has joined the ranks of Neymar and Arjen Robben as one of the best footballing actors in the world.
Twitter Reacts To Mohamed Salah's Contentious Penalty Vs. Newcastle
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s Egyptian King: incredible pace, dribbling ability and an eye for goal. Something he shouldn’t add to his box of tricks, however, is diving.
Salah has been wrapped up in a few diving cases in his Premier League career, most recently in yesterday’s match against Newcastle. Liverpool hosted Newcastle on Boxing Day, drubbing the Geordies 4-0. It was a routine win for Liverpool, but an important talking point of the match surrounded Liverpool’s second goal.
The Absolute Best (Or Worst) Flops Of 2018
Let’s be honest, divers ruin a lot of what’s great about soccer. Flops slow the game down, they win undeserved free kicks and generally just create more annoyance than enjoyment.
But sometimes, the diver’s acting is so unbelievably poor that the dive itself becomes a work of art. Usually, it’s some of the best players in the world that are doing the diving, which seems counterintuitive.
Agustín Marchesín Collapsing After Being Touched By The Ref Is Too Much
Nursing a 1-0 lead in the Liga MX final, Club América goalkeeper Agustín Marchesín knew what he had to do. After a sensational run by 20-year-old Cruz Azul midfielder Roberto Alvarado, the ball ended at the feet of Édgar Méndez.
Marchesín rushed out and took the ball off the feet of Méndez before he could get a shot off and potentially equalize in the 59th minute, and then the 30-year-old Argentine goalkeeper let Méndez have an earful. Referee Cesar Ramos rushed forward to separate the two, but in doing so, he gently touched the arm of Marchesín.
There’s Something Called Floppotron And It’s Not What You Think
No one likes a flopper — it’s one of the few things on which all football fans can agree.
You might begrudgingly appreciate when a flopper earns your team a penalty kick or understand that the nature of the high-stakes game encourages players to do whatever it takes to gain an advantage, but no one actually likes a flopper.
So when we recently discovered something called the Floppotron, we were intrigued.