Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
While the referee sought to punish any niggling fouls by both teams, and send off 2 Irish players for tackles from behind (both, unfortunately, deserved in my opinion) he didn't seem to be willing to apply the same adherence to the rules to the amount of playacting exhibited by the Serbs. Countless times on going to ground, their players stayed down - perhaps inspired by Awat of Israel several months ago. This part of the game has come under the microscope at senior level in recent weeks, and its revulsion is felt by fans across the board (Chelsea's fans booing their own striker Drogba recently is a fine example) but to see it at this junior level is truly sickening. If FIFA are to send off players for tackles from behind to discourage it at any level of the game, then surely "simulation" must also warrant a punishment of some sort.