I watched the Aussies play Paraguay on Friday morning.I saw Paraguayan players rolling around on the pitch clutching their leg, writhing in absolute agony, after they had tripped over their own feet in a tackle. Then came a crafty little look to see if the ref had seen it. If no free kick was given they were up and about, miraculously cured,a minute later.
Membership of Actors Equity union should be made compulsory for these guys. This sort of performance is a blight on what used to be, when I was a lad, a great game.
This sort of behaviour reminded me of the racket (raquet???) smashing antics of the overpaid, egotistic, darlings at Wimbledon.
This is sport in 2026? No way.
Peter_n_Margaret said
08:59 AM Jun 28, 2026
You called it a "Game", but in fact it is not a 'game' at all.
This is the difference between amateur sport and professional businesses and seems to apply to all codes.
Cheers, Peter
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Sunday 28th of June 2026 09:01:45 AM
Magnarc said
09:59 AM Jun 28, 2026
Yes you are so right there. With the big money comes the big betting, and thats what it's all about these days.
dorian said
10:50 AM Jun 28, 2026
Cheating is an accepted part of the game in South America. We only need to remember how Maradona was lauded by the Argentinian public despite his "hand of God" incident. If any Australian player had committed such a disgraceful act, he would have been ostracised back home. If you doubt that, just remember the personal fallout from the ball tampering affair.
Peter_n_Margaret said
10:55 AM Jun 28, 2026
dorian wrote:
just remember the personal fallout from the ball tampering affair.
In my view, everyone involved in the ball tampering affair should have been banned from the game for life.
Cheers,
Peter
landy said
10:12 PM Jun 28, 2026
Yes these days winning has become much more important than how your team plays the game. Landy
rmoor said
09:47 AM Jun 30, 2026
"I watched the Aussies play Paraguay on Friday morning.I saw Paraguayan players rolling around on the pitch clutching their leg, writhing in absolute agony, after they had tripped over their own feet in a tackle. Then came a crafty little look to see if the ref had seen it. If no free kick was given they were up and about, miraculously cured,a minute later.
Membership of Actors Equity union should be made compulsory for these guys. This sort of performance is a blight on what used to be, when I was a lad, a great game."
With you on that one.
Cannot watch the stupid game. Mainly because of the acting that mars the matches.
Watched a match for 3 or 4 minutes a few days ago and switched channels quickly.
All I saw was a fullback passing to the keeper who passed it to another fullback who passed it back to the keeper etc etc.
Thought, this $^#& is boring......click - over.
Have better things to do in my super busy retirement!!!!
Also agree with Peter n Margaret, the ball tamperers should have got life.
It was orchestrated and wrong, they knew what they were doing was wrong and cheating.
Don't know if the captain knew of the plan pre game day, but definitely the other two should have got life.
The younger "new boy" player should have stood up to the main perpetrator and said no.
We will probably never know if that team was rotten from the top down, or from the bottom up???
Wol said
06:57 PM Jun 30, 2026
dorian wrote:
Cheating is an accepted part of the game in South America. We only need to remember how Maradona was lauded by the Argentinian public despite his "hand of God" incident. If any Australian player had committed such a disgraceful act, he would have been ostracised back home. If you doubt that, just remember the personal fallout from the ball tampering affair.
Or bowled underarm
rmoor said
09:15 AM Jul 1, 2026
Underarm bowling was legal at the time.
Wasn't cheating, but was possibly the worst act of sportsmanship ever by an Australian.
Rod Marsh intervened but was not listened to.
When a senior player on the team is ignored when he warns of the consequences, then there was an obvious problem at the top.
The other issue in that instance was, I think it was Chatfield, his chances of hitting the last ball for six were a million to one!!!!
I adhere strictly to the rules of golf each week, but I often wonder if I am playing on a level playing field and getting knocked off by those who may not be in the same paddock of morals?
dorian said
01:13 PM Jul 1, 2026
Disgusting.
Mexican fans keep Ecuadors team awake before World Cup showdown:
"Mexican fans gathered outside Ecuadors team hotel using loudspeakers, horns and motorcycles to disturb their rest, ahead of their round of 32 knockout match. The Ecuadorian soccer federation said it has filed a formal complaint with organizers."
rmoor said
05:04 PM Jul 1, 2026
Saw that on TV today.
Looks like good sportsmanship is alive and well in some locations.......not!!!!
Why do some of these fools have to wreck some law abiding citizens cars when their team wins????
Magnarc said
08:36 AM Jul 2, 2026
The Great Game has become the Great Shame!
Craig1 said
04:40 PM Jul 3, 2026
Underarm, I was there that day, about 40 of on a bus trip from Albury. Lots of P...... stops on way home
I watched the Aussies play Paraguay on Friday morning.I saw Paraguayan players rolling around on the pitch clutching their leg, writhing in absolute agony, after they had tripped over their own feet in a tackle. Then came a crafty little look to see if the ref had seen it. If no free kick was given they were up and about, miraculously cured,a minute later.
Membership of Actors Equity union should be made compulsory for these guys. This sort of performance is a blight on what used to be, when I was a lad, a great game.
This sort of behaviour reminded me of the racket (raquet???) smashing antics of the overpaid, egotistic, darlings at Wimbledon.
This is sport in 2026? No way.
You called it a "Game", but in fact it is not a 'game' at all.
This is the difference between amateur sport and professional businesses and seems to apply to all codes.
Cheers,
Peter
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Sunday 28th of June 2026 09:01:45 AM
Yes you are so right there. With the big money comes the big betting, and thats what it's all about these days.
In my view, everyone involved in the ball tampering affair should have been banned from the game for life.
Cheers,
Peter
Landy
Membership of Actors Equity union should be made compulsory for these guys. This sort of performance is a blight on what used to be, when I was a lad, a great game."
With you on that one.
Cannot watch the stupid game. Mainly because of the acting that mars the matches.
Watched a match for 3 or 4 minutes a few days ago and switched channels quickly.
All I saw was a fullback passing to the keeper who passed it to another fullback who passed it back to the keeper etc etc.
Thought, this $^#& is boring......click - over.
Have better things to do in my super busy retirement!!!!
Also agree with Peter n Margaret, the ball tamperers should have got life.
It was orchestrated and wrong, they knew what they were doing was wrong and cheating.
Don't know if the captain knew of the plan pre game day, but definitely the other two should have got life.
The younger "new boy" player should have stood up to the main perpetrator and said no.
We will probably never know if that team was rotten from the top down, or from the bottom up???
Or bowled underarm
Wasn't cheating, but was possibly the worst act of sportsmanship ever by an Australian.
Rod Marsh intervened but was not listened to.
When a senior player on the team is ignored when he warns of the consequences, then there was an obvious problem at the top.
The other issue in that instance was, I think it was Chatfield, his chances of hitting the last ball for six were a million to one!!!!
I adhere strictly to the rules of golf each week, but I often wonder if I am playing on a level playing field and getting knocked off by those who may not be in the same paddock of morals?
Disgusting.
Mexican fans keep Ecuadors team awake before World Cup showdown:
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/7/1/mexican-fans-keep-ecuadors-team-awake-before-world-cup-showdown
"Mexican fans gathered outside Ecuadors team hotel using loudspeakers, horns and motorcycles to disturb their rest, ahead of their round of 32 knockout match. The Ecuadorian soccer federation said it has filed a formal complaint with organizers."
Looks like good sportsmanship is alive and well in some locations.......not!!!!
Why do some of these fools have to wreck some law abiding citizens cars when their team wins????
The Great Game has become the Great Shame!