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Arsenal striker Eduardo faces a two game ban for allegedly diving in the Gunners 3-1 win over Celtic midweek. On Saturday Arsenal travelled to Old Trafford to face Manchester United and once again there was a penalty and a dive, however this time Wayne Rooney was the culprit, but there has not even been a whisper about his dive that led to the penalty.
Now let me set the facts straight, I don’t disagree that it was a penalty, but what Rooney did is what strikers instinctively do every week.
He saw a chance and he made it work for him.
If you watch the footage of the penalty you can clearly see that Rooney is already falling down before any contact is made by Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. Rooney was on a tight angle with no one to play the ball too, but he could see Almunia rushing towards him, so he toed the ball away, fell over and let the keeper run into him.
Again I stress this does not mean it wasn’t a penalty, but it is still a dive.
Compared to Eduardo’s dive the scenario is almost identical.
He too was on a tight angle with keeper rushing towards him, so he fell, but this time the keeper made no contact.
Astonishingly Eduardo now has to front up to a UEFA disciplinarily hearing accused of trying to deceive the referee. It is as if Eduardo was the first person to commit such a crime. Since the inception of the penalty area, diving in the box has been rife, what Wayne Rooney has shown is there is a way to do it and still remain the darling of the English media.
It is hard not to agree that the pursuit of Eduardo has become something of a “witch hunt.” His dubious penalty was not even crucial to the result.
The likes of Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard have been there and done it. UEFA boss and football legend Michel Platini agrees that he would have dived had he been in the same position as Eduardo, and yet Eduardo becomes the “scapegoat.”
Interestingly all this furore coincides with the build up England’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Eduardo’s Croatia. As expected the English media will avoid any reference to Wayne Rooney’s dive, but as Eduardo’s hearing approaches we will see further saturation on the indiscretions of the Croatian hitman. The conspiracy theorists may argue that it is all a ploy to try an unsettle him before the Wembley showdown.
Eduardo may well be banned, but will divers become accountable for their actions?
As Rooney showed diving is part of the game and sometimes diving a certain way can win big matches. This weekend alone in all the leagues around the world there will be numerous dives.
It is not a part of the game which we should celebrate, but it is a much more complex issue that won’t be solved by singling out one man.
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