If the foul is in the possessing teams favor, and the ball was not turned over on the foul, the play is allowed to continue. Unfortunately "diving" has become an art forn in soccer, the Italians are especially talented. If it's a blatant dive, the diver can be issued a yellow card.
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Pretty sure that the Italians all go to Soap Opera acting classes...
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Don't forget the teams from South America, they dive like the best. I love Luis Suarez (he plays for Ajax Amsterdam, which is my team), but he's also a diver first class.
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Oh, indeed. I'm pretty certain that if the South Americans recruited some of their soccer players for their Olympic dive teams, they'd be taking home golds. lol.

...Actually, wasn't there a South American player (I think Uruguay) that actually WAS a swimmer with his country's international team?
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Yeah and in my opinion Forlan was one of the best players in the WC... but not because of his dives. His ball control and shots were unreal.
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Forlan won the award for best player. He deserved it too. I was really wanting the Dutch to win. Sorry Ferd.
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Forlan was unreal. I am surprised he won that award... but it is much deserved IMO.
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Hmmm. Thought Forlan played tennis...
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Okay, but if there's a foul, play continues and when ultimately possession goes to the other team or the ball is played off the field, does the team that was fouled get a free kick from the spot of the foul (per the rules)? Or is the foul ignored?

I actually saw a couple of yellow cards for diving in group play and was happy to see it called. But it seemed it was for actually diving when there was no foul at all. I guess embellishing an actual foul is okay per the rules, but I sure don't like it. I would rather see the player fouled try to continue the play.
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Yeah, he was! I was also happy to see Muller get the Golden Boot and Young Player award... Though, I thought Schweinsteiger might have been a better choice there. At any rate... 5 goals and 3 assists for a 20yr old is pretty epic!
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no, if the foul is not called immediately, it cannot be called retro-actively, "play on" is what is the commonly called by the ref in those instances. There are no time outs, and the only time the clock is stopped is when there is an injured player down that requires non-players on the field (medics/trainers).
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Not true. Refs can call it after the play and I've seen them do that.
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Matter of fact, there was a foul and yellow issue well after the incident -- while a certain drama queen was on the ground crying -- in today's game.
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Sorry, Moe. Greg is correct. A referee will wait to see if an advantage is maintained. If within a few seconds, the potential advantage is lost, the referee can and will whistle the foul. If, however, the referee feels the advantage was realized and then the ball turned over, the foul is not called. Lots of latitude in judgment given to the referee.

Also, consider this scenario. A player is fouled and the foul is worthy of a yellow card. However, a clear advantage is given and the whistle is not blown for the foul. Attack continues, and eventually possession is lost and play continues. A full minute or two later, the ball goes into touch or over the end line. The referee can then appropriately issue the yellow.

And the clock is never stopped - even for an injury requiring medics/trainers. The referee will add (stoppage) time for any additional time he deems appropriate - including substitutions and dealing with misconduct.
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Webb sucked, how the hell could he book Nigel de Jong, this was clearly a dive by Xabi Alonso http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/1036...t_gewoon_.html :-)
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Thanks for the education Peter, I had never seen this before.

So at that point, is it a free kick? And where?

When they show the ref's handling their watches I figured they were stopping the timers. Is it left to the refs discretion weather to add time for subs (ie if they are trying to burn the clock in the final minutes) or is a cut and dry policy?
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Thanks for the education Moe, Greg and Peter. I'm glad I asked the question.

I guess, based on all of this, my opinion is the ref could have decided the advantage was maintained, which I have no problem with, but could/should have issued a yellow on Robben's chance. I should stipulate this is based on my understanding of the rules (which obviously is limited).
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Good game yesterday. Even with all of the b.s. calls, I thought that the better team won.

Is it Football (U.S.) season yet? I'm ready to watch a sport where tackles are rewarded!
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No but I'm pretty sure it is Rugby time... And tackles are DEFINITELY rewarded in that sport lol.
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You're not saying anything we can disagree on. Disgrace for FIFA to pick Webb to ref the game, something that was called as soon as his name was announced days prior. I have no idea how Spanish players can think they are winners.
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