We might be guilty of a little stereotyping here, but this kind of carry-on is not the type of thing that will go down well in the macho environment of Australian sports.
While anti-football folk probably play it up a little bit too much, there is no doubt that the feigning of injury is one of the most unsavoury aspects of watching the beautiful game, particularly when the best players in the world are at it.
Pretty much the worst example of simulation you’ll ever see took place in an A-League encounter between Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC earlier today, when Brisbane striker Besart Berisha behaved as if he was a fish just out of water following a robust collision with Sydney’s Sebastian Ryall.
Although both players were guilty of diving in with two feet, Berisha was fine until he was inadvertently rattled in the head by his own teammate, Thomas Broich, which prompted him to roll around in truly ridiculous fashion before getting to his feet and promptly being sent off for his original challenge.
It seems clear that Berisha thought that the knock he got from Broich was, in fact, from Ryall and that he was trying to get him sent-off, so it only serves him right that it was he who got his marching orders.
Fair dinkum mate.
Hat-tip: Who Ate All the Pies
