I love soccer and have played it since I was very young, but there has always been something about the game that has bothered me and it has reared its ugly head again today in extra time of the Netherlands vs. Mexico match.  The first of my issue, is that a foul (if there actually is one) in the box should only be a penalty kick if there is a legitimate scoring opportunity.  Chances of that ever changing is very limited, but it at least needs to be addressed.  If you aren’t going to goal then you can’t score so why award a penalty kick?

The second part of my issue is with flopping.  In my estimation, it is a total disgrace and is one of the main reasons why there aren’t more soccer fans here in the USA.  When you see some of the most highly skilled players in the world taking a dive after little or no contact it just makes me sick.  But it will continue to happen when it is awarded like it was today.  The flop delivered by Robben ended that game for all intents and purposes and propelled the Netherlands into the next round of the World Cup.  To me, that’s just not right.  Something has to be done so that games cannot and will not be decided by such garbage.  Robben is a wonderful player who was trying to do whatever he could to help his country, but that was just classless.

I can only imagine the outrage that is being felt by the Mexican side and its fan base after something like that was a major reason why they are eliminated.  Because of such filth, I feel it is time that FIFA brings replay into practice when it comes to all of these kinds of questionable calls.  I know it may slow down the game just a bit, but it needs to be done so that it doesn’t affect the outcomes of such important matches anymore.