Tottenham's Zokora should have to face the music
Posted by JamesB in Premiership, Tottenham | 1 October 2006
A disgusting piece of cheating by Didier Zokora has given Spurs the privelage of going in at half time 2-1 ahead of Portsmouth. For those who haven't seen it, the midfielder dived to the ground, arms flailing pulling a face of pain, to win his side a penalty.
In the immediate future I hope that this does not cost Portsmouth any points, because in reality they should be in the dressing room as I write this at one a piece. What I would really like to see however is the FA to take a look at this incident and punish Zokora accordingly.
I get fed up with this sort of thing passing by and less and less people seem to be complaining about it. It's a dark side of the game that needs to be eliminated before it becomes a regularity as it is in parts of Europe, where referees may as well flip a coin to decide whether a free kick should be given for a "foul" or not.
One can't blame the referee for missing such an incident, there are times where the players do a good job of simulating a foul and it takes the benefit of replays to be able to identify it. That is why there needs to be some sort of repercussion after the game. A fine is fairly useless to a player earning thousands of pounds a week, but a one match suspension should do the job nicely.
As I write this the same player I am ranting about is asking for the referee to book a player, another pet hate of mine, so expect to hear from me about that soon.
Comments
Good post and I agree. Fining in the game is so much of a token gesture by the FA. It is difficult for a referee to see but easy for a comittee studying a video and therefore no one would get punished unfairly. It would be very sad to see diving become accepted in the English game and something a little more hard hitting needs to be imposed in my opinion.
I'm a spurs fan and I have to say I agree. Shocking stuff, we're all too happy to criticise when other teams do it, I hope our fans are man enough to admit Zokora was out of order.
Yes he did dive but there was no flailing arms or face of pain he just turned n looked at the ref, check the replay b4 u make accusations, the dive was wrong but he didnt make a song n dnce after he realised what he'd done, he expected contact when mendes came in
Couldn't agree more. I hate to see this in the game and ultimately it has cost Pompey the three points. I think it's also worth mentioning that Berbatov fouled Johnson prior to the first goal too.
are you a pompey fan by any chance? i'm not trying to start a arguement but there have been worse cases to call before the fa this season, and it always seems arsenal get a dubious decision every match lol
Happens everywhere every week. Get over it.
Get real. A tremendous run was brought to a halt and yes, he went down easy. But that is the nature of the game so you'd better grow up or get used to it. It happens all the time and generally the home team gets away with it. I don't condone it. I accept it. It's what the game is and there will always be human error on the behalf of referee's. If you're looking for a scape goat for someone who's tarnished the game, you're after the wrong chap though.
he did face the music......
glory glory tottenham hotspur, glory glory tottenham hotspur.
haha
I am a Spurs supporter, and I haven't seen the incident yet, but if what you say is true, I agree that a 1 match ban should be inflicted on the player. Money means nothing to the players in the premiership, so a ban is the only answer. We all moan about these decisions going against "our team", but let's condemn our own divers.(won't happen of course. Too much like common sense)
get on with it! we got the 3 points!! come on spurs....
it was a dive, and i hate diving, but there was no foul from berbatov prior to the first goal. its about time spurs got some luck. look at gallas' clear handball yesterday, that robbed charlton out of points.
First up, thanks to everyone who left a reasonable comment.
Secondly, I am not a Portsmouth fan so there go any conspiracy theories you might have about bitterness or resentment.
Scotty, this whole "he expected contact" thing is totally naive. It was a cynical piece of play and he had one intention only.
Steve - it happens everywhere every week, which is exactly why I speak out against it, why is that difficult to understand?
Joolsmo - the tremendous run has nothing to do with the price of fish. It's not what the game is at all. It is what the game has become because of a lack of clamping down against it, hence the piece I put up. I'm not after a scapegoat for anything.
Michael John - The only people with the power to do anything are the FA. I don't expect fans to boo their own players, the only thing they can do is in the split second when the dive is made try telling him to get on with it in some way instead of appealing for a penalty. This would probably sound like a penalty appeal though anyway!
Don't understand why something that warrants a yellow card if seen by the official, should warrant a ban if it's not.
What was worse zokora or the van persie assault yesterday which appears to have gone unnoticed.The Makele foul is another one .
We needed three points today by hook or by crook - Zokora is paid to get results, not to show sportsmanship. He always ran the risk of a yellow (or even a red) for simulation. He took a gamble and it paid off - winning us the game. He'll get slated in the press and he won't like himself for doing it - but sometimes these things need to be done in the professional game. Spurs were in a serious slump in the Prem and if it takes a bit of treachery to kick-start the seaon then so be it. I'd rather live with winning through an outrageously cheeky bit of outright cheating, than be sat here with four points out of 7 games!
It's about time a decision went Spurs' way.
Yes he dived. Yes its cheating but if the ref didnt see it during the game (and it wasnt violent conduct) I dont see why any action should be taken. It happens now and again. Its happened against spurs before. Yes its wrong but what can you do! Refs need to be more savvy. We needed some luck and we got it. End of!
It should warrant a ban because if the ref didn't see it then it must have had an affect on the game in favour of the cheat!
In todays case that would be the penalty he won.
My point is not what the punishment should be anyway, it is that there should be punishment.
Spurs fan - I wouldn't call it the "professional game" if diving is supposed to be accepted.
Miser - haven't seen the vP "assault" but it's got nothing to do with anything at all, I'm talking about clamping down in diving.
I couldn't agree more that it was a dive and that it doesn't belong in the game but it was nowhere near as bad as Redknapp and Hoddle made out. The only reason Mendes had the chance to pull his leg back in was because Zokora had anticipated the contact and stopped (to dive!). Had he not dived, he would have been caught and brought down.
Also I'm sorry but the very notion that english players don't dive is absolute rubbish. Gerrard, A Cole, J Cole, Rooney, Owen and even Terry have been guilty of it. Hoddle even implied that the reason Mendes was able to pull his leg back was because he is also a foriegner and knows all about diving!
As for Johnson being fouled for the first goal. If he is not strong enough to shield the ball he should have put it into touch!
I do agree that a fourth official could help with quick decisions like these but we need to be careful where this leads.
All in all I think tottenham were good value for their win, however it came.
I was there, I saw it and it happened right in front of me as I was sitting in the stand on that side.
Zokora did a clever turn, allowing Mendes to make contact with him. He went down, but did not react with dramatic tendencies. There was no flailing arms or face of pain he just turned and looked at the ref, as someonelse here rightly said.
There was no cheating, but skillful play of the situation. Portsmouth just have to live with that.
Not a happy way to go about things for genuine Spurs fans, but Z will realise this is not part of the Spurs ethos. And why punish him? How many times have van Nistlerooy and Drogba blatantly dived and nothing has done about it? Van Persie kicked out as JFH and should have got a red. Because he got a yellow the ref is deemed to have 'dealt with it' under FA guidelines. So what's the difference? Well, Gunners, Chelsea and Man U players are treated differently and preferentially, we all know it, we can all see it, but nothing changes. Interesting to see what the Sweet FA does about van Persie and Zokora after this weekend.
Football fan I have seen diving from English players and foreigners alike, most people here choose to ignore the Englishmen though. Gerrard is the best example I can think of.
guy1 - if you were in front of it you would not have been able to see his face for a start because he had turned away from goal. It was dramatic even before you take in to account there was no contact. If you call that skillful play then it's no wonder I feel I'm in a minority here.
John - Exactly my point, players are getting away with it, and the buck has to stop somewhere. Again I don't know about the Persie incident and to be frank I don't care, it's besides my point.
Thanks again to all who have left comments.
Being a Spurs fan, of course I'd like to think that he was 'anticipating contact' and 'off balance' but being realistic I know that if an opposing player did the same thing I'd say they were a dirty cheat. Yes, it happens all the time and yes, something should be done about it.
I despise when players ask for another player to be carded and I think that should be an automatic yellow card. As for the dive, there's not really a lot that can be done about it after the match. A fine is always going to be pocket change to the player; a one match ban would be too harsh (seing as the incident would have only resulted in a yellow card if the ref had seen it). Perhaps the player should start the next match already having a yellow card?
As for Mendes, he seems to specialise in being involved in glaring refereeing mistakes. His 'goal' vs Man Utd., the Thatcher incident and now this.
I'm not proud of what Zakora did, but as usual everyone is calling for Spurs to be made an example of. Chelski have 3 players who regularly dive without punishment, so why should a Spurs player be punished at the first indiscretion? Zakora clearly realised what he had done afterwards, and I'm sure that he won't do it again. In fact we all know that this will be evened out some time in the future. There will be a time when Zakora races through and is blatantly brought down for a penalty and it won't be given!
What is this all about? What is this all about? Crucify him? When Steve Gerrard anticipated the tackle against Uruguay every one said he's no cheat, its part of football. The same two faced hypocrites are now calling for punishment for Zokora. Is it because he is not one of our own? How dare he?