Sport Today

Diego/Goldmund,

regarding the diving discussions, I think I ought to try and be a little
more fair. Owen is a bit of a diver, in the embellisher class, so, yes, I
admit that, and I dont like it. After looking at Totti again, the incidents
were similar although I feel the referee saw Totti go down before the
challenge and the Korean get the ball. Owen looked like he was clipped
before he went down and the ball was not kicked.
But it could have gone either way in both, what I do object to is that if
Owen had been yellow carded for diving, I would not have complained or
thought that unjust, or used it as an excuse as some are going on about
Totti. He deserved what he got, he does it all the time. Perhaps Owen will
get caught doing it, if so, I will not in any way try to make out it wasnt
deserved, or was to blame for a loss or anything,
Im stating that for the record.

if you look at one of my posts after the Argentina game I actually mentioned
that Beckham was lucky not to get done as he appeared to dive in the air and
roll around just seconds before the penalty (go watch the  tape) - I think
he wanted a free kick on the edge of the box (wonder why). he also seemed to
jump up and elbow one of the Argentinians in a way that seemed intentional
but looked accidental (players are good at that).

Just wanted you to know that I am not totally unfair or biased, but I
definitely dont want anyone to think I would try to use it as an excuse if
we suffered that way, because its something I dont like to see in any
player.

regards
LeeH

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Owen is the "best" diver in world football imo. When he does it, it's almost
always a penalty.

Debatable, because we don't have a TV angle to completely prove/disprove it.
In Totti's case, the BBC rear angle shows clear daylight between the
defender and Totti, with the latter diving before any contact is made. It's
a judgment nobody will argue with once they've seen that angle in slow-mo.

In Owen's case vs Argentina, you basically have to visualise it..I think
Owen dived also incidentally, but it's a judgment based on the fact his body
isn't rotated by the contact, not by a clear and unambiguous TV replay.

Taking all this aside, with respect to Owen's dive and subsequent penalty I
believe that Collina made an honest mistake as I thought it was completely
legit as well. As far as Totti's go, I think that in order to be a proper
mediator of the match past history shouldn't skew his judgement and he
should focus on that moment, in which case there is no yellow and no
penalty.

Cheers,
Diego