Winning

[Vegas Seagull]

Holland will lose their next game, as have 8 out of 9 winners of a shoot out

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Krul looked like an enormous presence in the goal, that also is telling. Anyone remember that idiot Conlon playing with Zamora's sock tie ups before he took a penalty at Hartlepool? Didn't bother Bobby he just stroked it home, mind you away at Hartlepool doesn't rely compare to the World cup!!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

The entire shoot-out is here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28188372

Basically, he had a little chat with the opposition penalty taker and took a while to get onto his goal line. No big deal.

At least he stayed on his line, whereas you often see keepers a good foot in front.
You also hear the commentators say that Robben ignored the antics of Navas.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

I wasn't impressed by his antics (even though they had the desired effect) - thought the referee should have stopped it. I am also getting increasingly annoyed at Robben's diving/ falling over etc. I know some will say that you should use all tactics at your disposal to win and that only the winners are remembered but I think there is a growing sense that the manner of the victory is important. Maybe I am being idealistic but there is a thin line between using the laws of the game to your advantage and down right cheating. I am becoming more and more Pro Messi - as far as I can see he tries to stay on his feet.
NO matter what some think footballers do have a responsibility in terms of how their behaviour is perceived by the younger generation. My son is 11 and plays in goal and thankfully he was just as annoyed as me by Krul's behaviour but I have witnessed play acting by the opposition in a few of his matches. One example was a player who feigned an elbow to his face because my son managed to catch a high cross before he could reach it. Luckily the ref and to be fair the boy's manager saw it all and made him get up and apologise to my son - but was a sad situation which upset my son.

I just think that cheating is an admission that maybe you are not good enough to win. As I say maybe I am an idealist - test is if the Albion were to gain promotion through dubious tactics!

Messi does try and stay on his feet because he is confident in his own ability and the thought of feigning is not in his mind. He is a genuine player and always gives of his best.
The more footballers have been paid and feted and put on a pedestal, the lazier and more dishonest they have become in their play. Instead of honing their skills in beating goalkeepers in one on one situations, they have decided that it is easier to simulate contact ( which nearly always occurs because the poor bloody goalie is trying to get the ball ! ) by dragging a leg against the keeper and falling over. Never mind that a split second before contact they have toe-poked the ball miles past him. Oh no, that doesn't matter that they are not in control of the ball. There has been contact. But the contact has been of their making.
It is lazy, dishonest and does a disservice to football. They are bringing the game into disrepute. Historically, it has always been an exciting feature of the game to see a forward racing in ( one on one ) with the keeper. Greaves, Best, Bowles and even Wardy were all confident in their ability to score in those situations and never dreamt of simulation.
Managers and governing bodies do nothing to stop it. In fact, they seem to encourage it and we are now left with the unedifying sight of 95% of players going down at the slightest touch. How youngsters of today are supposed to learn how to dribble round keepers beats me. That will be the legacy of this generation of overpaid, overpraised players who have become so self-indulgent that they don't care about the paying customer or the habits they are ingraining in todays youth.