Moretti's truculence jeopardises Australia's standing in Asia

". . . the Aussies, who generally do not do the diving." To be sure! I know for a fact that I have NEVER seen an Australian player dive before. Ever. Not once. They simply dont do it. Not even Scott McDonald . . . or Tony Popovic for that matter . . . Hang on a sec . . . . ('_')?

At the end of the day Moretti is paid to be a professional and his alleged conduct was anything but. Pim has done much to ensure that the players do not let time wasting tactics upset the team and Moretti appears to be undoing this good work. As an aside I was disappointed with some antics with the Bahraini players in the game against the Kiwis. The Kiwis were sweating from the outset and every time a Bahraini spent time on the ground they were afforded time to catch their breath and get some fluids into the system. Bahraini players should have made a greater effort to keep the game moving at a cracking pace to make the most of the difficult conditions that the Gulf present. They wasted that advantage and it may cost them dearly.

The Asians & the Australians, is a bit like the Europeans with the Latins as the perceived divers & cheats & the Northern Europeans the thuggish or overphysical style. Matsu, I do believe that the Japanese & Koreans also fall down quite easy, maybe without the rolling around so they might not react as much as the Aussies, who generally do not do the diving.

Terrific post Matsu. Aren't Australians a bunch of whining, pouting thugs and hack artists??

I agree The fact is that all country engage in unsportmanship like activity It's just the type of unsporting activity varies between different countries and cultures. Whilst some countries may be proned to diving and time wasting Other countries like Australia are prone to thuggish or overphysical challenge and challenging of referees authority. Whose to say one is more unsporting then another. For Australia to go on about being in a moral high ground is laughable to the extreme

It seems that most of the people who have disagreed with Jesse's comments are those who think that Moretti was "only stating the obvious". Just want to put my two yen in, as the view of someone who is not an Aussie, but has had a pretty good look at the issue over the years. Those who say that West Asians are indeed time-wasters and injury-feigners, and Moretti was just telling it like it is are missing the point entirely. First of all, lets make no mistakes about what is fact and what is fiction. Not only do teams in Asia (West Asia in particular) feign injury to waste time, when trying to protect a result, but they are fully and completely aware that they do it. It was folks from the Gulf who invented the word "grassrolling", which is the commonly accepted term that we in Asia apply to the practice. Naturally it is an annoying tactic, and one hopes that referees will continue to discourage it as they have begun doing in recent years (both by ignoring the player on the ground, and by making the "injured" party wait a good minute or three before coming back on). But this is an issue that has been around for decades, and one that everyone is aware of. Japan has had to deal with grassrolling poofs for twenty years and Korea has been grinding its teeth about the issue for half a century. But while it is fair play to have a go at the offenders in the press, or from the first row of the stands, anyone who is representing the FFA or any Australian footballing organization should confine such comments to formal and confidential ones directed at the proper authorities (match officials or the AFC disciplinary committee). It isnt just a question of good manners; it is a part of the "rules" which keep the game from descending into chaos. If Korean team officials can keep a proper guard on their tongues after fifty years of putting up with grassrolling, then by god, an upstart assistant coach from a country that just joined the confederation three years ago has absolutely NO business spouting off. Put it this way . . . most countries in Asia have a strong impression of Australian footballers as guys who use excessive physical contact and verbal comments to the referee (trying to influence him) as ways to gain an edge. Personally I think those are fair and accurate impressions, even if they do get exaggerated at times. However, it is up to the referees (and the disciplinary committees) to address these issues, NOT the managers of other teams. What sort of response would the Australian press (or those posting to this board) have if an assistant coach from another Asian team publicly came out and said "Australians are a bunch of whining, pouting thugs and hack artists" ??? No need to answer that question, because we already know. The Aussie press went into a tizzy before the World Cup when JFA boss Saburo Kawabuchi was MISQUOTED as saying that Australians were thuggish (what he actually said -- "Australia no defender wa totemo kitsui" -- is actually a compliment that would make any tough-guy Japanese defender beam with pride if he had said the same thing about them). And yet even this intended compliment got people riled up because they thought they were being "put down" for something that -- deep down -- everyone in Australia knows has at least an element of truth. In other words, this is a classic case of pots and kettles, so it goes without saying that an OFFICIAL OF THE FFA needs to watch who he is calling black. Lets face it, Australia has already spoiled any hope of a honeymoon with their new family in the AFC. Rather than looking for ways to make the situation worse, every person associated with Australian football needs to go out of their way to change the first impression that most Asians have received. As someone whose first impression of "Australian sportsmen" was the idolization that most Pacific Islanders have for your rugby teams, I have to say that you Aussies have done a pretty atrocious job of earning your reputation for sportsmanship in soccer-football circles. It is high time for you to grow up and start acting like good sportsmen if you want to be viewed as such.

Again you are not understanding the varying cultures involved nor is Mr Baum. Maybe you understand cricket. Against India; What Australians call sledging & gamemanship is called insulting & racist to the Indians. What Indians call gamesmanship is called Cheating by the Australians. In football, Maradona is revered for the cunninginess of deceiving the Ref in the 'hand of God'. In England he is hated for being a cheating so so. Please try to understand. As for Australia not being that good at football, we punch well above our weight for a nation that really is a 3rd world nation in the football world, though growing fast. This is also an issue Mr Baum brings up but has no idea on because mainly the sports Australia do well in have little int'l flavour or none in your case. This gives us a very huge sense of self importance. Just compare swimming to athletics in our performances in world events to understand the difference between a sport where only a few compete compared to the most of the world.

If one was cynical (obviously not me) one could argue that by being largely honest that when you cheat it’s much more effective. Start Rolling on the turf from the 1st minute and you lose credibility, but if your picking yourself up a little gingerly after some clashes in the middle of the park, when you do stay down because they clearly missed the ball and you know the ref saw it, it must have been a really bad challenge.

I follow AFL and yes there are elements in the game now where diving occurs (Matthew Lloyd was the best at it). Hopefully they stamp it out. I am not criticising the world game, I am just defending the Baum article for the sole reason because he is not a soccer scribe, just a highly credible and respected journalist who calls it how HE sees it. And all he said what that for soccer to prosper in this country will require a cultural change.

Yes - staging for frees has always existed in aussie rules. A common cry from the crowd over the years has been: Give him an academy!! The most common example is accentuating contact to the back by thrusting oneself fowrad. Another is to hold your head if it has been brushed by someone's hand. A personal favourite of mine when playing in non-Aussie rules states was to push the ball forward, not take possession, await the inevitable tug of the jumper, then throw my hands back, as if to say, whoah, ump, this bloke is holding onto me!!! Set shot from 35 metres, pack up your lollies, easy goal. But sports fans the world over understand the concept of getting the official's attention if you have ben truly infringed. The Australian fan can be accepting of that, but is less accepting of players going to ground with minimal contact, and staying there for an eternity. Now - we understand how boot to foot/leg contact can be quite painful - the tricky part is untangling that from the going to ground to waste time efforts - we know it happens - and we should all rightly take a dim view of it. For me, that's pretty much in the same category of running to the corner flag late in the game - they are both scourges - especially if your team is losing!!!

Robbos diving and staging has been a problem in AFL for years. This was in todays Herald Sun - THE AFL's proposed crackdown on players who stage for free kicks has gained strong club support, with the league determined to stamp out "divers". Blatant examples involving Hawthorn's Lance Franklin and Collingwood's Alan Didak this year have been highlighted by rival clubs, who have told the AFL the issue is well worth addressing. This is the link to full article http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-crackdown-on-players-staging-for-free-kicks/story-e6frf9jf-1225787339936 You can't help but laugh. Oh the irony!!

...deflect, deflect, deflect. Manager media school 101.

James, I fully understand the diving & play acting is hard to accept when you see some player knocked senseless & that same player tries to get back into play in other sports in this country. I quoted that myself that it'sa bligh on our game. However, what you & Greg Baum fail to understand is the different cultures involved in football. Now I'm not sure what sport you follow, but if it's RL/RU, the best example would be if a foreign referee was giving the opposition a very skinny 10 metres (more like 5 metres) in defence in RL or the opposition was continually offside in defence & was being picked up would you not follow suit to take the same advantage. So if a referee was being bluffed into giving free kicks & penalties by the opposition by diving & play acting, would you not try to do the same? See whatever your sport you follow, the cultures don't differ too greatly due to the small amout of countries playing your sport. If you follow AFL you have totally no idea, because there is only 1 culture.

Didnt FFA immediately release a statement apologizing for Moretti's booboo? No harm no foul, but he was stating the obvious. These time-wasting tactics are rooted in the Asian style of play. I even believe it when Le Roy says he doesnt encourage this style of play, but nonetheless it still exists. Lead by example I say, its a players personal decision when you are on the pitch.

I won't not after he wrote this at the last World Cup "One peculiarity of soccer grounds is that they have no scoreboard or clock, leaving fans to do their own calculations".

is it possible that Claude Le Roy's outburst is a typical diversion from the result, as so many managers conjure up when they're on the losing end (ie. Fergs - the ref is unfit)? we're not being quick to demonise one of our own are we? I mean, sure i dont know who this moretti is, but he's one of us, isnt he?

they certainly got Pimbo covered!

Speaking of Patrick Smith - here is his take on the Farina matter: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26215495-12270,00.html

Guys - have expanded on the Kewell aspect to this tale at http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/blogs/halftimeorange/forget-moretti--kewell-and-cahill-need-to-be-reined-in-too-246301

yeah I agree with all the sentiments there. oman came here playing attractive football and took the game to Australia. No I don't think they were particularly time wasting. At least not as much as any other nation we played against. I really do enjoy watching the oman team. I was watching the press conference video from Claude Le Roy. He seems quite a funny and entertaining character. He's already been playing the mind games before and after the match. He's already promising a rather hostile atmosphere in the return leg. Maybe this event from Morretti will come back and bite us in oman.