[arkham]

I may be ignorant, since I am not a fan, but from watching some of the recent World Cup games, it seems that a major strategy in soccer is to fall down and grimace, hoping to get a penalty called on the opposition. Is this true?

[goldstategop]

No. The object of the game is simple: you team drives the ball past the other team with their feet into the opponents' goal. If you do, you score that precious point and get to congratulate your teammate who scored the goooooaaaaaaaaaaal!

[voletti]

Sadly, thats true.
True to the traditions of internationalist wussie-dom, that is. The FIFA board, as internationalist and unelectedly unaccountable as the UN bureaucrats are, sets the rules and they've watered down the rough-and-physical aspects of the game out of a misplaced sense of political correctness.

Time was, during Pele's reign for instance, when the beautiful game got ugly on the field. And that is preferable to the forced cosmetics that you see these days...

[wireman]

Yes. Really bad acting and the taking of dives has become a major part of soccer.

It's pitiful, but it must work or they wouldn't all do it.

[McBuff]

No that is the second major strategy. . .the first major strategy is to keep kicking the ball until it finally, inadvertedly, dribbles into the net. .at which time the guy who "scored" goes apesh*t and slids down on his knees. After that there will be no more "scoring."