In the second half of the Paulista Derby last Sunday, Vitor Roque entered the box and saw his marker approach. He then dived shamelessly. The referee correctly let the play continue and ignored the penalty claim. The forward still complained on the ground, got up, and then smiled.
It was a simulation, and he SHOULD have been cautioned with a yellow card, but nobody commented on it. It’s the rule! Do we accept simulation as something cultural? And not punishing it (disregarding the rule), likewise?
Over in Spain, he would be punished (he dived so much there that the clubs he played for criticized him). In England, simulation is a Yellow Card (as the rule dictates) accompanied by boos from the fans, who don’t like it.
How long will we accept non-existent penalties for balls that hit the hand and become a foul the ‘Brazilian way,’ simulation, goalkeepers’ time-wasting, and everything else that shouldn’t be done? Normalizing is a very bad thing.