World Cup 2006 Blog

I'm german so i probably watched this game from a more neutral point of view than a brit and i must say Portugal deserved one or two yellow cards for diving inside the french box. Ronaldo (the brazilian one) saw one for a similar incident.

What has football come to? Comparing one country's cheating with another instead of talking about great moves and great goals.
When it comes to it, only one team can win the world cup so it's more realistic just to hope to put in a couple of decent performances and go home with your head held high. Germany did it but England didn't.
As for teams like Portugal and Holland, they can only go home ashamed of their contribution to the tournament.
Just like watching people like Drogba and Robben cheat all last season took the joy out of watching football in the premiership.
If one of Portugal's dives had succeeded in winning the game last night, I would have given up watching football for good.

I'd say Italy has 60% chances against the France we saw yesterday, and 40% against the France that played Brazil.

However the only football bet I ever won is the 2-2 draw between Denmark and Sweden in 2004, which reasons I won't go into was given the shortest odds in the whole history of football, so don't take my word vor it ;)

@Ralph

He(Brazilian ronaldo) did not get one for diving at the end of the France match...
Instead they got a free-kick which was sent above the bar by Ronaldinho

Both Henry and Ronaldo(Brazilian) have been serial offenders in this tournament with their theatrical diving...

But all your tabloid-fuelled boo-hoo boys are up against christiano just because he played a part in the English loss ( His problem is mainly going down too easily , a dive is without contact )

I'm Australian, and while I was hoping England would beat Portugal, I'm still fairly neutral. However Portugal really have made themselves the villains of the tournament, with Ronaldo at the forefront. His behaviour against England was despicable -- the way he behaved after the Rooney incident was bad enough, nevermind that it was with a club team mate! You compare that to the way Germany and Italy played, and you can see why everyone is loathing the Portuguese. Last night didn't help, some of the diving was just comical.

There should be a FIFA commitee that watches videos of all the games, and where a dive is blatantly obvious, as it was on numerous occasions last night, they should just ban that player for a good 3-4 games. As it is, if the ref is not 100% sure they dived, they get away with not only cheating, but making a mockery of the greatest game on the planet. I also believe the same should apply for players surrounding the referee at any point in the game.

In cricket, players know if they argue with a decision they get fines and bans. So they don't do it. It needs to be the same in football.

It's turning the beautiful game into a joke. And it has to stop.

A statement from the school of science of the bleedin' obvious - of course we are looking at Portugal more intensely because they got through instead of England. Nobody would mind if they were particularly better than us and worthy semi finalists - but the antics of some of their players was a disgrace and tarnished their undoubted ability. Nice to see that those who lived by the dive, died by the dive.

Another silly report. Why will BBC insist on this again?

They keep at it impersonating all problams of football on their adversary team that knocked them out.

Sufice to see the direct insults of THESUN If FIFA has to investigate something it has to be how the press makes up "criminal" footballing out of thin air.

Portugals players diving?

Oh what? the French didnt dive? That Thierry henry deserves an oscar.
How about Joe coles attepmpt to ripp off a penalty by diving in the portuguese box?
The Italians knoked out the Australians out? (not the aussies had any chance anyway)

I am sick of all this incriminating reports of commom cheap tactics atributed to one teams fault.

I dont know why I keep camming back, maybe is my feeling that a global player so called first world country can be struck by so much lack of common sense and mentality.

Some Portuguese did dive yesterday, as did some French. Italy beat Australia with a well timed dive.

Both the BBC and ITV did a compilation of Portugal's diving in yesterday's match. Pick any team in this tourment and you could do the same. Particularly distasteful was the inclusion of Miguel's injury. By those standards then Owen also dived when his leg gave way. Shameful.

If Ronaldo is an icon of cheating, then Alan Shearer is an icon of sore loosing. If Portugal represents a nation that lacks fair play, then England represents a nation that doesn't know how to loose with dignity.

After yesterday's game, the Portuguese can leave Germany with their heads held high.

Ronaldo showed yesterday what a great footballer he is dispite all that booing that I find somewhat ridiculous. In my view it will be Man Utd's loss if Ron leaves the Premiership. Maybe he will be better in Spain or Italy where he will be apreciated like he deserves. The voting on that Ecuador player to rob Cristiano 1st place has the best young player of the World Cup is laughable. Rooney keeps is 4% !!!
Now about the portuguese squad has a whole. It seems that any team that loses against Portugal cant find any sportive explanation for their defeat. Its all about diving and acting. Be serious for once! Both Holland and England lost fair and square.
I understand that there is some "portugalphobia" in England. Lets see: England knocked out twice by Portugal in the last two competitions. League clubs being knocked out in Uefa and C.League by portuguese clubs. And the last but not the least: a portuguese coach that takes over a mid-table club and wins the last two premierleague competitions by Easter. Why dont you kick Mourinho out of England too?
Keep booing Portugal and our players. You only hate what you fear!
I hope we'll meet again. The sooner the better!
Greetings from Lisbon!

Italy played 120 end to end minutes against Germany so I think both sides will go into the final equally tired.

Whilst Portugal are not alone in the pantomime stakes, they have raised it to a level that is truly despicable. In the semi-final, particularly, almost every tackle was greeted with shouts for France to be penalised. Even the outrageous flying dive of Ronaldos in the French 6 yard box was accompanied by screams for a penalty. The result was, that Portugal failed to get several French fouls awarded simply because they had cried "Wolf!" too often.
This, though, was not the behaviour of an individual - it was team tactics and that is what makes it so despicable.
Even Argentina and Italy, who are masters of this tactic, found playing football in a fair & friendly manner far more rewarding.

i thought the match of the day presentation of the game last night to be childish at BEST. the "lovable portuguese" gary linekar, "alez les bleu" gary linekar, "i dont mean to be bitter but cavalho, just been yellow carded, WAS the player wayne, the golden boy of english football, alledgedly stamped on" motson, "the last 16 round of games have been dissapointing" shearer. No mention of the classic italy v germany game the night before, was that because itv had shown that one? please, please grow up & get on with your football lives commentators & pundits alike. england again were just not good enough. its a shame the boris becker interview was shown late on tues evening as he spoke of defeat in the same breadth as praising the victors.

You are right. The diving is widespread but the win against England put us on the spot, and the french happuly joined the media circus. Having said that, they did dive, unfortunatly, and something has to be done to punish simulation and diving, and no ammount of excusing can hide this simple fact. Interestingly enough Portugal didn't benefict from diving in any game, unlike others in this tournament that progressed due to refereing errors. But after the England match Portugal was doomed to be in the spotlight as the villain that this WC needed to blame someone from the uninspiring performances of all teams since the eights'.

Bad game, mediocre teams and a crappy French team in the finals, although rightly so since Portugal had the usual offensive effectiveness or lack thereof.

The worst thing coming out of this is the backlash againts C. Ronaldo, that is undeserved or at least there for the wrong reasons: pure spite.

Let's get it in perspective. a)It's just a game b) It was just a wink c)Why are we scapegoating Ronaldo for diving when it's not as if the English players never dive...like Mr Steven Gerrard in pre world cup friendly and less obviously during the world cup itself...d) get over it. Rooney got himself sent off, nobody else e)If Portugal are so awful what does that say about England? f)England played better once Rooney went off anyhow.

It just seems like any excuse not to look at our own team and manager.

I am angry with the Portugese squad, because they had shown the ugly side of the football, not occasionally (like Henry's oscar-worthy performance against Spain), but from the kick-off until the end... It was like a part of the game-plan, probably told by Scolari...

Funny thing is; Joga Bonito is Portugese and we haven't seen none of that "beautiful game" from any of Portugese speaking countries...

I have to say I was suprised by the Ronaldo booing too and I don't think it was fair. But you know, I am a United supporter and like Ronaldo more than Rooney. Maybe, after Cristiano's comments about him playing better with the booing and hissing, we should do that at all our domestic games. (Although saying that I guess its gonna happen anyway)

I agree with some of the BBC pundits on this. Retrospective red cards and automatic match suspensions should be dealt out to serial divers. Take it out of the refs hands because the ref should be there to make sure the game is as unstinted as possible.

If Portugal had lost half their squad for their antics against the Netherlands, England or France... they'd soon sit up and think about their stupidity and gamesmanship.

The same goes for any other player/side. Joe Cole's beginning to pick up a few bad habits on that front so I don't disclude English players.

If Portugal had progressed to the final and God forbid (quite literally), won it... it would have sent the wrong message out about the game.

I do have another solution though. Next time a player writhes on the floor in mock agony.... bring a stretcher beaer on with amputation equipment.... see how quickly the player gets up and starts running. :-)

Yes, I suspect a number of the dissenting voices were England fans who had bought tickets in the vain hope that their nation might be participating.

The level of anti-Portuguese feeling on the internet, as England fans some foreigner to blame, has shocked and depressed me. John Motson's obvious pleasure that Carvalho would miss the final game of the tournament was particularly unsavoury, given that the man's crime had been to have his groin stamped on by a thug.

Ronaldo has been one of the tournament's finest players: at times last night no fewer than three world-class French defenders were around him, and still they could not prevent him getting the ball across or forcing a corner.

The spectacle of a nation uniting in its hatred of a wonderfully-talented young boy, whose crime was to complain to the referee when an opponent assaulted one of his teammates, is frankly sickening.

I'm portuguese and live in England but I still support my team till the end.Why are portuguese players the only one to be criticised for all diving?all teams have done the same.why so much hate? Because Portugal beat England again? It looks like.

Hi, I'm an English Bordeaux fan (I am honestly) and have been closely following the French national side since I first started supporting les Girondins in the 90's. Zizou was an exceptional player at Bordeaux and is still revered as one of the most popular players ever to wear the scapulaire. For him I hope France win the world cup, he is not only the most talented footballer of the modern era but a gentleman and role model.

Allez Zizou!!

While I agree that diving and fainting injuries are not something that belong in our game. And while I agree that Portugal were givng a masterclass of this yesterday and as a Manchester United and C.Ronaldo fan this is something that I feel at times lets him down.

Am I the only one that believes that Ronaldo as been used as a scapegoat for once again Englands short comings. Am I also the only one who believes that some of it also as to do with him being a Man U player. I mean seriously take along hard look had it have been the other way round. Would Rooney be getting treated like this. (I didn't think so!). It's ashame how the media in this country dictate how people feel and think about our game and allow them to influence our decisions.

At the end of the day sentiments aside. This was England against Portugal not Man Utd/England against Portugal. If Ronaldo feels Rooney made a foul he as a right to contest it he want's t win the World Cup as much as Rooney or anyone else does. Can you blame him for that. At the end of the day Rooney lost his temper and the situation as been blown out of hand.

I am a Rooney fan as he plays for Man U also and know how passionate he is. I believe he would have done this also had Ronaldo had stamped on Beckham for example. What makes this even more ridiculous. Is that most people boo'ing and getting at Ronaldo sticking up for Rooney are the same ones who's calling Rooney a Fat B****** at club games and saying he dived against Arsenal. (Oct 24 2004, Old Trafford) among other things.

If that is not double standards and what is know as being a hypocrit then I don't know what is. At the end of the day England lost, just like Spain and other. You don't hear them blaming overs. Blame Gerrard or Lampard for missing a penalty not Ronaldo.

I was one of those "offended" by your views on Italy's celebrations but I must admit that your later replies better explained your point of view and thus put everything into perspective.
I believe that a lot of people are guilty of provoking, no team is an exception. Maybe Portugal did it in a more explicit way but I really believe that the english were particularly harsh only becuase of being eliminated by a team that was probably inferior.
I understand the disappointment but I also believe that we need more focused and calm comments from journalists, specially in a country were the press can influence so much the pubblic point of view. It has been depressing to hear so many cries of "cheating" from some of the posters here who attacked violently some of the teams while ignoring the same thing in other teams that were not so "covered".
We all need to calm down; it is unfair that one stupid action by a player or an error of a referee can cause people to start attacking a whole country. I understand some minor mocking, this is what football is about, but when you exagerate then it turns out to be too bitter and disgraceful.
We have been lucky to experience a great world cup; let us pray for a great final as well, and to the english (some, not all obviously) I ask to try and avoid considering what the "Sun" will write after the final and to make their own judgments; Portugal is a great nation (I'm not portuguese) and it's people are nice as any, they don't deserve to be treated like this.

Being Irish but having lived in England sice i was 3 i am thouroughly disapointed but not surprised by the way the English have reacted to the Portugese player Cristiano Ronaldo. I was very pleased to see him even more determined to win after being subjected to boos and taunts from the watching crowd. It is so pathetic Enland are just looking for someone to blame for them not getting through and even if it hadn't been Ronaldo than it would have been either something or someone else getting the blame. The English are bad loosers and England wouldn't have got much further anyway! Ronaldo is a fantastic player and gets my support!

There's no doubt that Portugal are serial offenders in the Dark Arts of football. Not just at International level either might I add.

However I do think that the defeat of England at the hands of Portugal has added to their victimisation(and in particular Mr Ronaldo). As has been rightly pointed out, over teams have not so wholesome characters as well, but not to the extent of Portugal where by nearly evey player on the pitch had a go at an Olympic bid for the Portuguese Gymnastics team.

I am very neutral as my team is not playing et the WC:) In my opinion, three of four teams coud be doubted as semi-finalists: Italy - penalty vs.Australia in an equal game,France - diving before 2nd goal which broke the game, Portugal - no way for divers...In my opinion, divers should be punished with red card at once, not yellow, to exclude it from the game. If those actors want to play theatre, they should not play football.

For me the problem with Portugal is that they behave exactly as I am expecting them to behave. I expect to see them hounding the referee, taking dives, committing professional fouls and generally playing without any form of sportsmanship whatsoever. And at this World Cup I havn't yet been disappointed. During the knock out stages they have been the second best team on the park on 3 occasions, yet they have got to the semi-final. Genuine fans want the semi-finals to be played by those teams most deserving of getting there, Portugal weren't.

They seem to make up for their lack of flair with the histrionics, for which Carvalho and Ronaldo are the worst offenders. If it were that Portugal could beat a team without resorting to these tactics they would be respected, but they employed such tactics against England and France and most evidently against Holland, and as a consequence diminished themselves as a team.

Portugal are a good team with some decent players but are most certainly not good enough to be in the World Cup final, thank god France found them out. They would be a better team if they concentrated on winning matches and not conning referees. Portugal had the opportunity, when they had an extra man against England, to show what they could really do on the pitch. What did we get? 25 minutes of them playing with 6 midfielders and no strikers (and more diving than you could shake a stick at) - hardly suprising that England were able to keep them at bay. And let's be honest about it, this is a team that lost to Greece on home soil in a major championship final....

It indeed would be fitting to see Zidane lift the cup, but he doesn't half look tired! I also think the Italians will get it, but only by a goal. Portugal? Serious investigation required by FIFA to stamp out ALL diving & other tactics. Football is the beautiful game, not a cheat-fest. Big Phil needs a talking to...

I am portuguese and I don't think one or two yelow cards would have been enough. Ronaldo should have been sent off because he is a natural diver instead of a natural talent. And yes I am portuguese.

I can't say I'm upset that Ronaldo got so much 'abuse' targetted against him last night. His behaviour throughout the tournament, and the behaviour of the whole Portugese team was nothing less than shocking. FIFA claimed prior to this tournament that they would "stamp out cheating" and "stamp out diving" - something that FIFA have to live up to, and something that needs to be stamped out. Ronaldo was a cheat throughout his performance.

The abuse towards the portuguese stems from England going out. There's a subtle wave of discontent and nobody knows for sure who exactly to blame.

The Portuguese, and in particular Ronaldos have become apt targets.

Sven Goran Eriksson's inept formations, which lead to a frustrated Rooney who ended up kicking thin air when he could've scored, thus Rooney's red card stamping, Beckham's non participation, lack of midfield creativity and missed penalties, have all been swept under the carpet to cater for what people really want to believe cost England a World Cup win... a wink by Ronaldo.

We diligently accuse people of cheating and being without football 'etiquette' yet we show the same levels by being bad losers. The scenes in the aftermath between Argentina and Germany are the same as the England - Portugal game, but done with a war of words from irresponsible people and media, instead of a physical one.

Lets take the defeat on the chin and move on. Learn from it.

C Ronaldo was not carded for his diving but neither was Henry but Henry was given the penalty kick. Unfair refereeing yet again, The ref was very close to both incidents and to be honest should have given both at least Yellow cards and no spot kicks. Henry was tackled by Carvallo and a foot was left in there but once Henry saw the ball was unreachable to him he then went for the dive and spot kick which I would have sent him off for as I would Ronaldo at the other end. The onus is on the refs to stop this, if the players get away with it then the problem will only get worse.

The fact is that Portugal undoubtedly have some very good players, and Scolari has moulded them into an effective unit playing the 4-2-3-1 system.

But time and again in this tournament we saw what some might call gamesmanship and others cheating, taken to a new level by these players.

Yes other teams are doing it too, but I suspect only because these teams know that the referees have been conned so many times. The opposition is gaining an unfair advantage when their players simulate and go to ground. Hence Henry's cameo against Puyol.

More and more teams will do it unless something is done about it, because at the end of the day it can be the difference in staying in or going out of a major competition.

Portugal were certainly "at it" last night but I have to say, in general, I feel this world cup was better handled by FIFA in that there seemed to be less diving in general than in the past. Even the Argies seemed to want to play this time...and play well at that.

But Ronaldo, great player that he is, was hilarious to watch against France. That theatrical dive in the area where he launched himself was in Oscar Nomination territory. Shocking. And he's going to get serious stick back in the Premiership.

I fear Italy will beat France although I'm on the "Zizi" nostalgia side of the fence. But it's a cup competition, so who knows what fate has in store.

I am pleased that Portugal were beaten, not because they knocked out England but they couldn't hit a cows' backside with a banjo and showed some of the worst sportsmanship I have ever seen on a football pitch. It's not just the diving but the constant verbal sniping at the opposition and the officials. That's what gets the crowd against them.

So, Cristiano Ronaldo thinks there should have been some yellow cards, does he? Perhaps if someone sat him down in front of a semi-final 'highlights' film of blatant Portugal diving he might have to admit his team (and him) should have been the ones to receive them. What bare-faced cheek!

Lets see Ronaldo come back to the UK. Why not? He has protested his innocence in this whole sorry saga so what has he got to fret about? A bit of harrasment from the English fans for sure...that the least of his worries. How I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Fergie gets the team together in August.

I've not supported football since I was a kid, so am not entirely sure why I'm writing to this site. Perhaps it's because I now play rugby and cannot bear to witness the so-called football "stars" continue deceiving referees and the paying public with their antics.
Diving and feigning serious injury has only one purpose: to deceive the referee and force a penalty, free kick, or sending off that is otherwise not justified. That is not "professionalism" as some pundits choose to call it, but blatant cheating and makes a mockery of "the beautiful game".
FIFA President Sepp Blatter's total refusal to even consider video support for referees greatly undermines the referee's position, as does the allowing of players to vigorously remonstrate (verbally and physically) with the referee. It's simply not good enough for Blatter to complain that referees should become more professional - they are already at the top of their profession on the world's largest stage and should be supported in doing their (largely thankless) job by the body, which controls the sport. FIFA should react quickly, as the already meagre supply of football refs might dry up quicker than they think, especially if they're not being supported by their employers. Otherwise, perhaps the paying public will have had enough of the cheating and start supporting other more "honest" sports instead.
For a more learned opinion, click on the link below for Welsh International Rugby Referee Nigel Whitehouse's sound advice for the football administrators (http://www.planet-rugby.com/Off_The_Field/Laws_And_Referees/story_52253.shtml).
Who knows, maybe I'm wrong about all this and football will become as popular a "sport" as WWF wrestling?! Let's see.

Its amazing that the one country, who more than any other, owed its sole world Cup triumph to refereeing errors should be the one to hold forth and lecture the rest of us on the evils cheating and refereeing incompetence.

Can anybody imagine the reaction if England lost a world cup final to Argentina by a goal that did not cross the line, that never was - the sheer bedlam and hysteria that would explode around our heads. In the 1966 Quarter final between Argentina and England, Argentina had to play with 10 men because The Referee sent off the Argentine captain Rattin (in a match where English fouls doubled Argentine ones) because he ' did not like the look on his face' and because Rattin was allegedly insulting a referee who later on admitted to not understanding a word of Spanish.

Imagine the English reaction if Beckham had been sent off for abusing a referee who later admitted to not speaking or understanding a word of English.

The English are the spoilt, petulant and inadequate children of international football. Not once in 40 years of mediocrity have they ever admitted to loosing a tournament game because they played a better side, not once have they ever had the grace to congratulate their conquerors, there is always an excuse, always a whinge, always a hate figure to divert attention from their lack of any real ability to play good football. English football is a joke. The English now hate the Portuguese not because of their so called antics, but because the Iberians who they would rather patronise have cleaned the floor with them three times now in the last 6 years, Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and now this world cup - what a record. Portugal have produced Figo, a former world player of the year, respected throughout the game who has led his country, a small modest south European nation to the last 4 of at least 3 competitions, England have produced David Beckham, better known for his hair not playing style, who has led his country, one of the richest in the world, from one underachievement to the other.

Portugal have Ronaldo, a a fine winger with pace, trickery and above all courage, England have Rooney, a one trick pony (all he ever does is try and shoot from outside the box or barge his way through it) overrated and over hyped. Ronaldo will achieve great things in Spain, Rooney will spend the rest of his days bullying the likes of Charlton and Bolton and striving for red cards in major tournaments when confronted with good defenders (who can pocket mediocre and overrated strikers), so all the post match talk will not be about how average he really is but how '’his emperament let the great genius down'.

Then again he is also very likely to end up in prison

(I'm portuguese by the way)

"Portugal head the roll of dishonour no doubt, but one or two illiustrious figures can join them."

It is really sad to see the writer of this post embarck on this kind of remark, going so far as to say that much of the bitterness aimed at Ronaldo is actualy deserved. If a portuguese player had stepped on an english players vitals like that, you wouldn't only be calling us all butchers but you'd claim that player to be banned as well. So, please, do grow up and take Rooney's actions for what they were.

From my perspective, biased or not, it's kind of interesting to see us go down from the likeable team that couldn't scare anyone - having much of the foreign press calling us the brazilians of Europe for our handsome but imature style of playing - to become this so hated national team that seems to be destroying the beauty of the game. Again, grow up will you. Portugal, with Scolari on the lead, did take it's place in the grown boys turf, and if England wasn't big enough to defeat us, try better next time but do it playing ball.

As for last night's match with France, I can recognise a bit of bitterness on my side of the barricade. In my view the referee had a very professional and fair presence. The game started very well, the french took the lead on the attack, and we reacted, and it looked like it was going to be a spectacular match. Then Ricardo Carvalho did the penalty. Maybe he didn't want to do it, but as he fell down he clearly stretched his leg towards Thiery Henry. It was a clean penalty.
For a moment there, we all prayed for Ricardo, having saved so many penalties, could do the miracle one more time. But this is Zidane we're talking about, and he took a solid shot towards goal.
The game clearly shifted from then on. The french closed the block and had little initiative for the rest of the game. Portugal tried to react, and as the clock run againt us some of or inneficiencies showed. There was some diving as we started playing more with heart than reason. Pauleta was nowhere to be seen, and sadly neither was Deco. Ronaldo actualy had great effort in this game, and Figo did his best to keep us moving.

In a sad and ironic way, from my portuguese perspective, I saw this as Figo's world cup. He started it brilliantly, and kept us moving forward, but the truth is we went as far as he could go - and last night we saw him reaching his limits. It is sad for such a fenomenal player, but that's how it goes.

Still, it is an amazing and historic presence of Portugal in this world cup. And we're still playing with Germany on saturday, on what I expect to be the best game of the tournament. Both teams already lost all they had to loose, so I expect an open, exciting and fair game, and may the best win. As for the final, it's curious how it's reached by the two best teams in terms of defence - and not necessarily in terms of attack. That's how modern football goes, but you know, football isn't showbizz. It is a great tactical game, and that's what happened last night. Whether we like it or not.

Viva Portugal!

Ronaldo dives in the french box was as ridiculous as pathetic, it should have be sent to the bench for such lame attemps, because he should have collected yellow cards for simulating. Otherwise he played fine during this match, which is disturbing, let's hope that his lack of fair-play is the price of his young age, and that he will only keep the more than enjoyable part in the future...

Once again if referees had the video, he should be sued for that, during the match or even after.

If Henry over played the foul in front of Spain, and this really didn't pleased me, the foul was here and real, in the case of the Ronaldo (brazil) dive attempt, he was simply laughable, without any possible instigator within the perimeter...

We want refereeing video!
Work fine in rugby without breaking the action flow...

Spot on article....

Come on Italy, they deserve it........

I have only watched a selection of matches as I do not have a TV. From what I have seen I am impressed by the approach that especially Argentina and Italy have brought to this world cup - teams that, in my life time, have previuosly tended towards the cynical tackle and amateur dramatics. Of course, all teams can have one player who deserves our disapproval - Frings against Sweden comes to my mind - but the general trend in this competition is laudable, as witnessed by the approach of both teams in the first semi.

As for the Rooney/Renaldo thing, here is what I wrote to a national newspaper in the light of the sending off and the anticipated backlash for Rooney. The outome of the match itself was irrelevent - England beat themselves, anyway:

'I wish to support Wayne Rooney in his genuine, battling endeavours to gain possession of the ball, whilst Portuguese arms wrestled around his torso in front of a wavering referee.

I felt so sorry for the boy, especially when the BBC commentator droned on about Rooney's temperament etc. Others have called for him to apologise to the other England players, when Rooney was simply doing his job!

He was not so much petulant as determined and, still, I cannot see intent when his boot came into contact with the prostrate defender’s body (which was behind Rooney’s field of vision). Earlier in the match he was clearly seen trying to avoid falling with his entire body weight onto an opposing defender.

Utter disbelief followed, with Rooney unable to grasp the treachery of Christiano Ronaldo, his own team mate at Manchester United. The lad's entire world was crashing down.

Rooney’s style of play is not simply a ‘British’ thing, though it is something many of our players excel in. Tevez of Argentina, Odonkor of Germany, Ribery of France, for example - they are all honest grafters who battle until they drop. Any of these would grace the Premiership, a place where Portuguese players tend to flop.

As a Manchester United fan, my first reaction was ‘sell Ronaldo now!’ This of course would leave no room for the bridge building that must follow any breakdown in a working relationship. As an England fan, though, I still say ‘Allez les Bleu!..’

Now, I look forward to a decent final (that does not go to penalties), where football wins. My heart says France, but before it all started I said to my son: "You know, nobody's mentioned Italy..." It's time we had a 3-2 result.

Sure, there are other offenders but Scholari did the team no favours with his loudly proclaimed win at all cost philosophy. Other coaches or players may have the same thinking, but non so as high profile, feisty, or as the loud as the Portuguese coach in proclaiming these values. Some of the slow motion replays of Portuguese antics made them look ridiculous.

Diving for penalty has always been an age old offences. But in this tournament, I see many players faking elbow fouls, clutching their faces and going down in a heap when there was no contact made.

In any exams, once you are caught cheating, you are disqualified. The referee may not catch all acts on the pitch. But FIFA should seriously consider barring the cheats caught on video from the rest of the tournament.

Let's not forget to add Crouch's horrendous dreadlock tugging which saved England from an embarrassment rather more acute than that delivered by scraping into a quarter-final.

Let's not forget Alan Shearer's advice that Rooney should go back and 'stick one on him'.

Certainly, Portugal's antics were shameful and made for much boredom. The Italy/Germany match reminded me of proper football; the polar opposite of much of what we witnessed at this world cup.

But back to dreadlock tugging. Why didn't I hear anyone talk about it on the BBC? Perhaps I imagined it? Perhaps my hard disk recorder was reprogrammed by fairies and I alone saw the foul, again and again?

I don't read newspapers but I was told a couple of days later that various German papers had printed stills of the abuse.

But no comments on the Beeb. Just the constant moaning and groaning from 'analysts' who bemoaned England performances whilst always predicting 'a win' in the next match. (Why? On what evidence?)

Of course, it was all Ronaldo's fault and no doubt the media will whip up enough hate that the premiership might lose one of its brightest stars.

The main BBC web site's lead story after the France, Portugal match was about Ronaldo; not the French win.

Apparently it's all right for Gerrard to dive in internationals. Ian Wright stated that he did the right thing by cheating in a warm-up friendly, but when filthy foreigners do it they should be shot; even after a teammate has his privates stomped upon. And it isn't cheating to ask for a red card. Ronaldo was entirely correct. The foul was beyond the pale and could have injured the man for life.

If we are to emerge from this with any honour at all we must make sure that Rooney is charged by the police for his crime (for in any other situation, this is indeed assault) and that we remember how England cheated one of the weakest footballing nations on earth because a gangly striker couldn't get it done with his elbows (his usual tactic).

But hell, stomping on someone's balls is nothing compared to revealing, yet again, that 1966 was an aberration, that England live in a world where Scotland can beat them as many times as they get beaten, where England never beat Sweden and where Germany and Brazil and Italy and France and Argentina are and always have been, save for one moment when a referee lost his mind, very average indeed.

Graham Taylor thinks there are too many foreigners stealing places? No, there simply aren't enough quality English players. Surrounded by foreign quality, we have overrated them.

Reaching the quarter finals, for this team, was a huge achievement. The players should be congratulated. After all, this isn't cricket where you only have to beat three teams to be the best. This isn't show jumping where nine or ten rich people battle it out, this is football, this is where two hundred teams fight to be the best and England's players did fantastically well to reach a quarter final.

Stop suffering from delusions England. To complain that we only reached the quarter finals is to perpetuate a forty year old myth: that England can compete with the best. Enjoy the aberration of 1966 and enjoy the many great foreigners who play in England and enjoy watching average English players lifted by foreign teammates into 'world class'.

Finally, must we also berate Scolari for being passionate? Perhaps Portugal should hire an out-of-work Swede who knows as much about football as my late granny?

England, yer crap. Get over it. Any England player making mealy-mouthed statements about how they let us down should get a grip on reality. That was perhaps the best team England ever produced. They were lucky to get any results at all, and were it not for a violent act by a skinny guy they might have got what they deserved.

Until England acknowledges their real level, they cannot compete.

Stop blaming foreigners. Acknowledge reality then build on that. There's a reason that tiny teams do so well in the FA cup; our major teams are overrated and overpaid.

These are lessons that I doubt we'll learn. Eriksson is nothing more than a confidence trickster. And the England team is not even in the second rung of world football.

But until we acknowledge our true place we can never improve on a base that does not exist.

Cheats never prosper.

Unfortunately, I fear my money will have to go to a penalty shoot-out between Italy and France, exactly like their nail-biter quarter final match in 98.

I mean, the only goal scored against the Italians during the Cup was an own goal in the US-Italy match... here's hoping Barthez is up to the challenge!

Benjamin

Just to add one more point. Didn't we all hate them (Portugal) before the England game. I know I did. I actually felt for Holland (who also cheated a little less than everyone is making out). I didn't even mind losing (it was expected) the game, but I want to lose the same way we lost in Italia 90 - To a better team who slog hard for 120 minutes. That's what I will remember in my last 30 seconds of life. The great BATTLES not the great SHOWS.

From now on the Italians will no longer be the recipients of my international distaste. That honor now belongs to the Portugizafreekick.

Watching Ronaldo cry was one of the great memories I will keep with me forever. They were tears of frustration that he could not con his way through another round. Not like the tears that Ballack, Lampard and Gerrard cried.

Go France (never thought I'd say that).

There is a campaign to unseat Ronaldo from young player of the tournament

This was emailed to me - is it justified? The blatent attempts to deceive the referee by diving in the game against France alone means that Ronaldo doesn't deserve this acolade.

Read on..

There is a very real danger that Cristiano Ronaldo will be voted the
fans' best young player at the World Cup despite his
pouting,diving,pretty boy antics designed mainly to get himself a
lucrative transfer to Real Madrid and thus avoid the good kicking he
deserves from Wayne Rooney at Manchester United training.

He is currently 1st in the FIFA voting just ahead of Luis Valencia of
Ecuador. Please can everyone go to
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/bypa/eligible.html
and do the decent thing by voting for Valencia. It doesn't matter who
you support or if you haven't seen them play, just stop Ronaldo.

Takes 30 seconds...You know it makes sense!!!!

Portugal’s players have dived, but they’re not the only ones and they were not being condemned so vociferously until they beat England. And let’s get this straight: England did not lose because of Portuguese play-acting or gamesmanship. We lost because a) we didn’t play well enough and didn’t score, b) Rooney got himself sent off, c) we took bad penalties.

As for Ronaldo, he is one of the worst divers in the world, but the abuse directed at him (some of it from TV pundits who really ought to know better) has been way over the top. What did he actually do? He protested against a foul on one of his team-mates – and if an English player had been stamped on, we would expect whichever England player was nearest to the incident to protest. Of course, he shouldn’t have got involved and no-one knows exactly what he said, but it was no worse than many of the other protests we’ve seen at this World Cup.

As for him being responsible for Rooney’s sending-off, I can’t believe that people can’t see the simple logic here: the referee blew for a foul by Rooney before Ronaldo got involved, the only possible foul he could have blown for was the stamp. Now, it may not have been deliberate, but the referee clearly thought it was, otherwise he wouldn’t have blown for a foul. Therefore he was always going to send him off, regardless of what Ronaldo said – because every referee in the world would send off a player if he thought they had deliberately stamped on an opponent. Can someone please explain how this simple fact has escaped the grasp of so many people?

Portugal are a good team. They didn't deserve to lose against France. That penalty was very soft.

being impartialis tough when your nemesis is involved!

In my humble opinion, teh portoguese deserved atleast two yellow cards for diving, and Ronaldo was definitely one of them.

For the Final, France's victory will be a fairy tail ending but this world is a harsh place to live(ask brits, germans and perhaps argentinians as well).

Italy look stronger.

Good argument, well made, but I would put forward that it is flawed as it is based on (as you say) "Ricardo Cavalho's vitals".

I seem to be in the minority, but I really don't see a foul being committed which deserves a yellow, let alone red, card.

The British fans are merely looking for a scapegoat on Portugal and Ronaldo. Your football is very poor at the international stage; it is only overhyped in England. You are boring us international neutral fans - with your brooding. You will continue brooding, lamenting and scapegoating until you learn how to play good football just like mainland Europe.

The BBC is doing a really bad service to journalism with its reporting and analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in the latest matches of the World Cup. Phil McNulty's "Backlash begins for Ronaldo", for example, is far from balanced. It clearly enhances what England supporters claim to be Ronaldo's faults with its choice of language and its implicit assumptions. The BBC is helping the hatred that is cultivated in England towards personality features of football players such as Ronaldo's emotional traits. By choosing to bring the issue onto the front page, by using a picture of a distraught Ronaldo and by offering condemnatory “predictions” of Ronaldo’s future, the BBC is contributing to a character assassination. As a media professor and as a regular reader of BBC online, I am appalled by the BBC's partiality in this matter.

The main reason for the crowd's reaction is reflected in the fact that the club for which Ronaldo plays believes itself to be above the law. Thus their players feel they can get away with anything as no-one would dare pull them up (this includes other players from the same club who appeared in the World Cup)

I am English and I was very happy to see Portugal out of the world cup. I dont consider myself to be bias in any shape or form but France have been one of the better sides in this years world cup and it would just be fantastic to see them go to the end and win the final prize. Jorge Larrionda handled the diving form the Portuguese side very well and maybe he should have given them more yellow cards but then again this would have interrupted the flow of play. Well done.

Portugal
=========
Well, i have to admit wanted the french to win last night and i have to say it was because of Ronaldo's
behaviour in the game against england in particular but in general because of the cynical way they play
i used to feel this way about Italy but they have improved a great deal.. I'm afraid Portugal
have taken their crown. It would have been a travesty had Portugal got through using such tactics
as falling, diving, hassling the ref etc. They played very well in the second half and there was really
no need for these cynical tactics. But they weren't good enough, just like england.
Portugal act like a desperate team and it shows when things are not going their way. See the Holland game?
They cheat to get any kind of advantage then complain that the referee was not fair..how ironic.
Further irony ...Portugal think they were unlucky, they were in actual fact very lucky in so far as they
did not receive aany yellow cards for constantly trying to fool the ref.
I i were a manager i wouldn't have him in my team no matter how good HE thinks he is.
It is a shame because the Portugese people are some of the most friendly people i have met.

Rooney
=======
And as for Rooney, my belief is that the 'stamp' was a result of imbalance after being pushed & fouled
by the two portugese players. Looking at a still of the incident is totally misleading. It didn't
warrant anymore than a yellow. Given that i might be wrong consider that wouldn't have happened at all
had the referee given the foul on Rooney.. did he go down.. no ..and this is what he gets for his persistence to win the ball..
that is, to actually play. I think you could tell by the way Rooney was prodding Ronaldo that he couldn't
quite believe that Ronaldo was pressing for a serious offence to be considered by the referee.
Oh and did you see the sly words Ronaldo gave Rooney earlier and the little head butt to the back of his head.?
Then of course the wink to the bench.

Final
=====
I agree with you..France looked tired in the second half and this is clearly why they went out to score
early.. they were by far the better side in the first half. It was quite the opposite with Italy against
Germany where they only seem together better.. I think Italy will win say 2-0/2-1.

Perhaps you haven't gone far enough. The majority of players do it. I can't say everyone, but certainly the majority. It's why I'm out of love with football.

Players spend 90 minutes trying to convince the referee that something did or did not happen.

Then at the end of the game, they go on record as saying "The referee's mistake cost us, the referee was not goodd enough"

As such, football games are often simply not credible contests

I'm afraid there will always be an element of cheating in pro sport - there's so much at stake - but when cheating becomes a skill on a par with passing or shooting ? The credibility of the contest is lost.

The solution is striaght red cards for simiulation, or suspected simulation. Sure, there'll still be wrong decisions - but the game will be cleaner and credible once again.

the state of current football disgusts me and fifa are too scared to do anything about the constant diving and berating of the referee.

forgot portugal and certainly ronaldo.

its time to make the premier back into english football. a very low limit should be put on the number of foreign players in a team.

or even less points for a win if you play several foreigners???

after all look at chelsea, heavy bias on international stars. its hardly a recognisable team sheet from what you would have seen even 10 years ago.

of course were bitter about englands loss, but the future will not change until we begin investing in home grown talent.

I think you are right that there is more stick for Portugal because they beat England but I definitely think there is a wider issue here which is crucial to the future of the game. The fact is, people are getting fed up of the behaviour of players.

I go to a lot of matches in England (QPR mostly) and watch a lot of games on Sky. I am tired of seeing vastly overpaid players conning fans and other teams by cheating. This World Cup has been blighted by face clutching, diving, fake yellow card brandishing and whining. People who pay to watch games deserve better than to see them decided as a result of diving - eg Aus v Ita. It is infuriating to see highly paid "professionals" doing this. Not to mention the impression and "example" they give to youngsters.

Football is shooting itself in the foot and crowds will suffer. FIFA have promised to deal with it but have fudged the issue. Refs are not issuing cards for simulation anywhere near enough. Send the cheats off (with a huge fine) and that will make them think twice.

On the subject of FIFA, they seem to be conducting a witch hunt against Rooney. He has to apologise yet they allowed Figo to get away with a headbut through sleight of hand. No wonder FIFA have little respect from ordinary fans.

Italy and Germany restored some of my faith in the game on Tuesday. It seemed they made a point of trying to get up quickly and play the game the right way. More of that is needed or I am defecting full time to cricket which is a much fairer game!

I remember the great Portugal team of 1966 - one the best and most sporting sides of the World Cup finals in England.

In the semi-final England played Portugal and won 2-1. One of the best matches I have ever seen.

When Bobby Charlton opened the scoring for England, every member of the Portugal team went up to him and congratulated him.

How times have changed.

stop gettin worked up about ronaldo and start considering how mr eriksson managed to mould a group of talented
players into one of the poorest teams in the tournament. wool, eyes, pull!

I remember the great Portugal team of 1966 - one the best and most sporting sides of the World Cup finals in England.

In the semi-final England played Portugal and won 2-1. One of the best matches I have ever seen.

When Bobby Charlton opened the scoring for England, every member of the Portugal team went up to him and congratulated him.

How times have changed.

in my eyes, what goes around comes around, this may well be the case with the dubious case of Mr Henrys goal. There must be such a thing as karma!!
Yes it is not just Portgual who are guilty, but not so much on a consistant basis. After the group games Portgual know they were not up to standard of the teams they were playing, they only way they could get through was stooping to this low level. first of all, one of the dirtiest games of world cup history against holland, then the childish antics of ronaldo against england, running 50 meters to be the first player in the referees face, then the blatent diving of postiga, ronaldo, and pauleta. The problem is these guys are role models and the kids who watch these games think its ok. Fifa need to stamp this out now, it is the only negative that I can pick out for this world cup.

I commend the reception Ronaldo got on Wednesday, he had no right whatsoever to get involved in the Rooney incident and the wink that was caught on camera following the event has infuriated myself and many others even more - however I have to admit that had I not been English, I would probably not hold too big a grudge against Portugal as a whole.
It's very tight, but my money is on Italy for the final. Much of France's success will depend on how good a game Zidane has, and Italy's defence has looked impressive throughout the tournament. I'm going for a close 1-0 win to Italy.

Once again you repeat the canard that Rooney STAMPED on Carvalho's vitals, as you so delicately put it. I would suggest to you that that statement implies a malicious intent, which was totally lacking from the actual incident. With two Portuguese players pulling at him from behind at no point did Rooney turn round to size up a target. He's simply trying to remain on his feet. That he puts his foot down on Carvalho in attempting to do this does not justify the referee's decision and it's just ridiculous to reiterate this bien-pensant attitude towards his dismissal. That is why everybody is so aggrieved at the referee's actions. Does Phil McNulty know of a secret form of levitation hitherto unknown to footballers let alone the average hack on the street?

Yes, please let the Azzurri win this tournament. With all due respect to France and Zidane, they still haven't really convinced me in the way Italy have - in fact, they seem to resort to tactics the latter are always accused of. Apart from that, they've surely won enough in recent years, including that Euro 2000 title they snatched from the unhappy Italians. Forza Azzurri!

On the strength of the semi-finals I think Italy will win it on Sunday. On strength of the whole tournament I think Italy deserve it more than France anyway.

Fabio Cannavaro has been the player of the tournament and it is about time a defender won the golden ball over a striker as a striker has won it in all but one of the previous tournaments.

Dear Mr McNulty,

You may condemn the others, perhaps more skilled divers, but not defend Portugal. They have brought the art to a new low, worthy of an all-in-wrestling script but not smart enough to present to good Uruguayan ref. More of him and less of them should improve the quality of football.

Barry Walton

the real guilty men behind diving and cheating are the games bosses who have allowed this behaviour to flourish from the board room downwards making the motto "win at all costs" all that matters.

Phil,

where did you find a Nuremberg to Berlin connection that takes 6 1/2 hours? Even according the Deutsche Bahn's website there's a direct ICE-train evey two hours with a total journey time of 4.29hrs... But apart from that, sorry our country is still that big ;-)

As far as C. Ronaldo is concerned: It's probably just an issue of gravity that's so much stronger around him than anywhere else...

I'm an asian living in Germany and I have no real favourites at the World cup now that Germany is out. I actually think Rooney deserved the red card and that Ronaldo's role was minor in getting him sent off. His teammate was badly fouled so rooney deserved what he got. If it was the other way round and rooney was the injured party, England would have been crying bloody murder.

But I digress - I have to adree with Ralph. Portugal has to quit faking injuries and fouls if they are going to gain ANY respect - thats is tantamount to cheating and nothing is more intolerable than cheating at a sport. It goes against the very point of sport! And if thats what Portugal has to do to get themselves in a better position to score a goal, then they don't deserve to be champions and deserve to be condemned for their ridiculous conduct.

I'm Portuguese but am currently working in London. Every day even before the game between Portugal and England I've been reading the newspaper and I think it's a shame that the british press denegrates Portugal since the beginning of the World Cup! Why? To try to affect the Portuguese team and help England go trough or just because you dont care about anyone and need to attack in order to win! Before the game we had against Holland the press was already saing Holland was going to be the team who was going to play against England. They were wrong again!!! We beat the english because you were the weakest team. That's the true story! About yestarday match I know Portuguese palyed better over the french team but we lost the match and that's what futbol is all about...sometimes you win others you loose!!! We have to score in order to win and we didnt. The important is to be with the team because they did a great job and I'm proud of them!

The anti-Portugal feeling exists right now in countries like England or France and comments like yours are to blame. I am not astonished by such anti-Portugal feelings by the people on the streets of England but I never saw such an organized media campaign against one country.
Speaking of anti-Portugal feelings, if you're a serious journalist you should have read the polls. In BRazil, 75 per cent of brasilians suported Portugal. In Argentina, 57 per cent of people suported Portugal.
But the worst is that we still mantain your anti-Portugal campaign. Now you are creating a campaign against Cristiano Ronaldo. You were quick to forget french dives yesterday.

Well I will like to say that, its a real shame from English Fans with the boos on Ronaldo cos they lost to Portugal. I dont think they will ever win the World cup. Their Fans has cursed them. With this attitudes towards young talents such as Ronaldo, they aint going anywhere near the cup. I am a great admirer of Talents all over the world and hate to see this disgustful behaviour from the fans. Why aint the Fans booing the refree who gave their golden boy Rooney the card. England Fans change.

In reply to Phil McNulty, Rooney getting sent-off for 'treading' on Carvalho would have been quickly avioded had the referee given England a free-kick 5 seconds previous to the incident. Ronaldo's actions exacebated the referee's reaction, whether influential or not. Rooney's incident should have been easily avoided and nobody seems to know what Carvalho was doing 'off his feet'. Blame in this order- Slow reaction to foul on Rooney by ref,Carvalho off his feet, Ronaldo making out there had been a drive-by shooting! Rooney trying to stay on his feet as he was off balance and could have easily collapsed, Ronaldo-esque. Get your perspective in order please!!

How can you say Rooney stamped on Cavalho's vitals? You must be the only Englishman that thinks so. You've spent too long in Germany. Get back to Blighty and reality. As far as the nation is concerned Rooney did no wrong. England were cheated out of the World Cup by the ref and Ronaldo.

Let's be clear about one thing: the fact that the english and the french are against portugal and dedicate their time slagging them off is because they feel threatened.

Cristiano Ronaldo, considered the best young player in the world by FIFA, had to be the main target. And it gets people jealous the fact that Portugal, a small and poor country, has the best goal keeper in the world, with record on penality defence.

Let's check the game facts then, shall we?:

- thuram and zizu both desearved 2 yellows at certain points of the game. If they had gotten it, they couldn't play in the finals. Now we don't want that, do we?

- GAME NUMBERS:
total shots on goal: P 12 - 5 F
Ball possession: P 59% - 49% F
Penalties: P 0-1 F says

- the fact that the crowd kept boo-ing at C. Ronaldo made it easier for the French. They only needed to hear to boos, and be sure that one of the fastest players in the world was on his way.

.... nothing more to say.

Am I alone in thinking that Henry dived for the French penalty? He certainly went down very easy, I'm not sure it was as clear cut as the commentators made out (but they all wanted Portugal to lose anyway after knocking England out!)- for all his great skill he has started showing a more cynical side as seen in the Champions League final and the game against Spain.

Why do you blame Ronaldo for England loss? It was Rooney's moment of maddnes. I did not see that Portugal was playing more dirty then England especially Holand. It is always somebody else's fault when England goes out.

You should be moderators, not censors

As much as we demonise Portugal and little non-achieving Ronaldo for what they did to England, they were also just as bad in their previous game - that record breaking affair against the Dutch. Yesterday's game made it 3 offensive performances in a row, and as much as we moan about something needing to be done, and are told that this is part of the modern game, Rooney's stamp was the result of his determination to stay on his feet and not rely on the referee seeing what was a legitimate foul on him. He should not have gone down if he could stay on his feet, but he might have stopped and put his hands in the air to indicate that he could go no further. In the end, the ref didn't blow for the fouls on him, and in his general frustration in that failed 4-5-1 formation he lost his cool.

Meanwhile, Portugal are serial offenders. The entire team seems to be going out onto the field of play with the sole intention of winning fouls and penalties unfairly, getting other players carded and sent off, in every single game they play.

It's not just called 'cheating' in inverted commers. It IS cheating.

Whichever country you come from, it's still cheating. It's not right when Ballack does it, or Henry or anyone else, but whereas these players can be accused of one-off offences, the entire Portugese team are diving deliberately ALL THE TIME!!!

And they have had no reason to stop, as the referees seem to think they've already received all the punishment they deserve from that one game against the Dutch. Everything subsequently has already been credited to their account.

My take on it is that they received several yellow cards and 2 sending off's against Holland because they deserved them. So did Holland. But there is no reason to allow them carte blanche to just come back and carry on as before. Wrong is Wrong and that's the rules of the game. If they can't play the game they shouldn't be there.

They certainly don't deserve to finish 4th if they haven't been able to score a goal in open play since the early minutes against Holland.
(did you like what I did there?)

So let's all enjoy the final. Italy's last minute goals in their last game were inpirational. Good luck to our wonderful hosts, I hope they have a strong ref to ensure their 3rd place result.
(yup, did it again.)

Forget about the England game.

Portugal are a very poor side who cheat to make up for their shortcomings.

I really think many of you have missed the point here. Has the Portuguese side taken more dives than their competition? -- probably. Credit the French masterminds for spending the two days prior to the match repeatedly answering press questions with their "quiet" concerns for the Portugese divers. They answered every second question with an add-on comment hoping that the refereee for their upcoming match did not "fall" for Portugal's theatrics. This was a deliberate, and apparently effective, approach to the game as not one of the 50/50 calls seemed to go their way. Ronaldo is a brilliant player but Scolari must teach him to internalize his anger as his regular emotional reactions are making him a target for scorn and this is baggage he must avoid bringing to the national team.

I'm a Scot - interest declared - but I wasn't unsympathetic towards England early on in their bid to be World Champions.
Having witnessed the BBCs coverage of the Portugal-France match last night I was both shocked and disappointed at the sheer bitterness that pervaded the whole program!
From the clips at the start purporting a "vintage" France and an utterly villainous Portugal through to Motty's commentry - twice he mentioned Carvalho as "the man involved in the Rooney incident". The implication being that Carvalho deliberately placed his vitals under Rooney's boot in order to get him sent off! Dispicable!
Portugal (leaving aside their theatrics for the moment) have produced some excellent football throughout this World Cup, as much if not more than many of the senior teams. No mention of this last night - the only clips we saw of Portugal at the end of the coverage were "how not to play" clips of Pauleta and ones ridiculing Ronaldo's performance - who incidentally was arguably the best player on the night.
Diving - don't 99% of them do that? Henry against Spain and again to get the penalty against Portugal - slight touch and he was down. How does it differ from Ronaldo's dive at the other end - slight touch and he was down? It differs thus: Portugal are particularily bad at it - way too theatrical. Henry had it down pat. The reason Henry gave for the incident v Spain (which also resulted in a goal) was that "they" were cheating too so this, by implication, was an evening-up of the scores. But that's why all players do it, Portugal's included, and it's no excuse!
What hurt most was that this (surprising) BBC negativity and bitterness ruined the event. The occasion of two titans of the game, Zidane & Figo, at the end of their respective World Cup careers facing up in a final confrontation was lost in the vitriol and recrimination that was English inability to accept defeat and move on. The fact that a Scotsman & Irishman failed to give much balance to the affair only made it worse.
Does anyone remember the "hand of God" incident? Argentina were vilified for years after that. I suppose an England player would immediately own up to such a thing: "Hold on ref, that wasn't a goal. 'Fraid I put it in with my hand. Don't know what I was thinking just there!".
Can't really see it, can you?
Perspective is all!

I agree with adam, i did not think it was deliberate foul either it looked to me if rooney lost his balance, and I am sure if he had deliberately stamped on his "tomatoes" he wouldn't have been able to get up so quickly ( still what do I know I am a woman) I also agree that Ronaldo is a brilliant player and shouldn't have to rely on cheating but unfortunatley that is the way Portugal think the game is won, there is far too much of it and as soon as there is an agreement with the footballing officials to send off players we might get rid of this nonsense

Has anyone wondered why Ronaldo is up for young player of the tournament?

Italy just looks to be perfectly on form right now. They have the stamina, the discipline, a TOUGH defence and strikers who can score goals. If Domenech comes up with just Henry up front, France has no chance.
However, I hope it will be an exciting game. After scoring the goal last night, France seemed to hide around their on goal.....
Well, may the best team win !

I love the Portuguese posts about the English being bad losers. I don't remember Portugal providing a great example of sportsmanship after their semi final defeat in Euro 2000. Three players banned for a total of two years, the Portuguese FA fined £70,000 for attacks on UEFA officials? And that was for the referee daring to be right and award a penalty against them!

I am Hungarian, but because my country's football has been absolutely useless since the past 40 years, I have been a Portugal supporter since quite some time. Which I guess does make me slightly biased. I admit, there was some diving going on in yesterdays game. But overall, I do find that Portugal did play better, and deserved that win. Maybe if Scolari would finally realize that Pauleta is TOTALLY useless, and put in N. Gomes, they would start scoring more goals!
But my main problem was not that Portugal lost, but the comments of the BBC1 guys after the match. Their comments against Portugal was almost disgusting. Things like "Portugal didn't deserve to win", and "they should never have gone this far" (these were just some of the lighter comments) were wrong. It was also hypocrytical, because in the beginning of the match, they stated that any team that makes it this far, is good, and deserves to be there! And during the match, they even said how well Portugal is controlling the game, and that Ronaldo is doing well.
Anyway, I just think that English people hate Portugal so much because they knocked their country out yet again. It's ok to be annoyed, but the way the BBC and the rest of English fans are towards Portugal is much too harsh and even immature.

We have conveniently forgotten that we have benefitted from such tactics in World Cups - Michael Owen against Argentina 4 years ago, Gary Lineker against Cameroon (Twice).

After the Cameronn clip was recently shown the panel joked with Gary Lineker and it was all very light hearted.

Last night, the same panel could be heard calling for Red cards for diving. Was mention made of our history or present players that tend to fall over in minimal contact?

If FIFA took a measured consistant approach to the behaviour of players on the pitch it would at least be a start.

Since when did conclusive tv coverage of a head butt by Figo warrant just a yellow card but inconclusive evidence on a stamp warrant a witch hunt. Given Rooney's reputation there may be enough to suspect him of such a thing but the evidence is hardly conclusive.

Whilst FIFA, UEFA and all other national governing bodies fail to act then the more Managers and players will try to exploit the situation.

Want to know why I despise so much about professional football?
Check out what would happen to any professional golfer caught cheating, they would be banned for life.

I am still not convinced that Rooney *stamped* on Carvalho. He clearly trod on him but there is a big difference. The referee blew for a foul but he didn't reach for his pocket until after the events Ronaldo set in motion.

Spotting an opportunity Ronaldo called for a red card and Rooney stupidly rose to the bait by shoving him in anger and disbelief. In so doing he simply watered the seed of doubt that had been successfully planted in the referee's mind.

If referees could never be influenced by player protest, then why would players bother?

They do so because it can, and did, work. Ronaldo thought so and winked.

Have we forgotten which team our English lads played against when our conquer and super star of the furture Wayne Rooney first broke his legs. Yes it was those divers from Portugal, the culprits for breaking his legs. Watch the video again, Wayne was just preventing his feet from tying up after the ref did not even blow on the foul caused by the so called victim himself and Figo. What would we have said if Cavalho broke Rooney's leg again. . As we all know the Brits are fighting champs and with the players we have I am only surprise Beckham being the captain did not lead a mutinty against the Swede to play the game they know how. . God Save the Queen. . .

I am Portuguese and I think it is phenomenal that everyone is only looking at the Portuguese actions. We have to thank the Italians and the French for the so well known diving. The English press decided to attack Portugal and it has not stopped. If I remember there was another team, Holland, and they kicked Ronaldo on purpose and no red card was given. If it had been Rooney instead of Ronaldo probably the world would have finished by now.

To me when English are cheering for the French team just proves that they hate those who beat them. If it had been the French beating England, probably the English would be supporting Portugal. I say England played better. The difference was a FANTASTIC RICARDO. And could someone please tell Pauleta how bad he did for his team and his country. Let him play in the qualifications match but keep him out of the big games.

I agree Portuguese went over the top but so did Thierry Henry (Spanish match) and no one talks about his actions. It would be fantastic if Ronaldo had a direct line with God so the referees did what he wanted. Somehow I do not think that this is the case.

In the end of the day is just football... once known as the beautiful game.

I hear all this talk of severe punishement for diving, and I think that it would work. But it's not going to happen.
There is no way FIFA will set up a comittee of dive-watchers to review every game and hand out suspensions.

What needs to happen is free-kicks (not Yellow or Red cards) should be given out for diving. And faking an injury should be at least yellow, delay of game should be yellow.

If you make the diving calls discretionary then the ref won't hesitate to call dives MORE OFTEN. I think the problem is that since diving is a YC the refs don't like calling unless they are 100% sure, and they are almost never 100% sure.

If players are giving up important free kicks in their zone everytime they dive, or losing the advantage on a good scoring chance due to a dive, just watch how quickly that will change.

As for the England situation, they simply played terrible, they had a terrible formation, terrible picks. I pin it entirely on sven.

On another note Portugal is one of the most deceitful teams i've ever seen play.

that's what i think.

english are HORRENDOUS LOOSERS

its as simply is that

don´t worry, 2008 will come, and we will send you out, once AGAIN

By virtue of the publicity the Premiership gets through extensive world wide coverage, the English seem to enter every tournament believing they are virtual champions! Let's face it, if a mortal player from Equador had done to Rooney what he did to Carvalho, the imagination boggles at the potential reaction. I feel that football has become the exclusive club of the traditional rich elite nations and as soon as a smaller country like Portugal enters the fray, they are crucified by the press and everyone seems to follow suit.Shamefull!!!

It seems to escape England's attention that major tournaments are played in the summer, and British bulldog tactics just don't work in the heat.
We don't have the skills to play elegantly and the ugliness of our approach to the game is in itself tiring.
For me, Italy's performance was about as good as it gets, but that requires brain power and I don't detect any of that in the England setup.

Ronaldo's a fantastic, exciting football player but an awful sportsman. He ends up on the floor after vitually every move. It's the consistent attempts that gets on people's nerves.

I think I can remember the few times Owen's dived for England and even Gerrard as well, but Ronaldo does it a couple of times every game, for Man U. as well as Portugal.

I actually think he was fouled a few times in the game last night and didn't get the free kicks because of the amount of times he dived previously.

Had Ronaldo been in Rooney's position the other day, he would have gone to ground at the first opportunity and not got stuck in and eventually fouled someone (I think it was deliberate on Rooney's part and deserved the red card, by the way).

Some countries and players have the view that being wily (I'm trying to be as generous as I can) is an admirable quality, but the English seem to prefer grit, determination and fair play.

Maradona confirmed this when he spoke about that fantastic goal he scored against England when he carved through half our team. He said that he couldn't imagine he would have been able to do that against many other teams, as they would have just hacked him down, long before he got near the goal.

I felt rather proud on hearing this.

Rooney stamped on a fellow professional, Ronaldo winked at a team mate, and Ronaldo is the one to be despised?

Fact is, England weren't good enough like they haven't been good enough for forty years.

Bekham was hauled over the coals for getting sent of in 98. History was rewritten to blame Simone.
Didn't take quite as long to rewrite history this time did it?

I'm happy for England to blame Ronaldo for them going out.

If they don't admit to their own failings they will never learn and remain a laughing stock in world football.

Rooney was fouled before the so called stamping issue. The refereeing at this World Cup has been very poor - so much so that England matches apart there has been less interest than expected. Pubs showing the matches have not had to increase their bar staff.
A number of football fans have commented to me that what they have seen wasn't football and I totally agree. The antics of the play actors should be stopped but if not then may I suggest that England go on a pre competition acting course with emphasis in diving and looking to be in pain. RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) is second to none I'm told and could give that winning edge.
FIFA with the mountain of film evidence has chosen to do nothing except to display fair play notices - what a joke.
Taking the Rooney incident - how quickly could a man recover from such an attack. No mention has been made of the how quickly the Portuguese player got up after Rooney was red carded.
Rooney has a temper and is easy to spark but the referee is there to protect the player which didn't seem to apply to Rooney. Rooney was fouled a few seconds before - as it was the first incident England should have been awarded the free .
kick
A lot should be learnt from this World Cup - lets hope that RADA restricts the course to those that deserve it - like Rooney. If he went down as easily as the opposition - could it have been if he'd fallen then the whole incident would have been reversed.
Rooney requires his temprement to play as he does - he just lacks that RADA edge.

I find this completly stupid...

I may have bias being of Portuguese decent, and I do not condone the diving that some portuguese players have committed. I feel that FIFA should indeed stamp it out completly and punish players who do it, be them Portuguese, French, dutch, argentineans, english or whatever. but what I don't understand is why Portugal is being labelled as the team who cheated their way to the semi finals??

I have seen a poor attacking display from a portuguese team i will always support but that is the fault of a striker who really looks better on paper than on big stages like the world cup.

I knwo the display of the team and some of the antics didn't help Portugal's case but who here can honestly say they managed to subdue a referee and win a match from a dubious decision??

if there is no proof then surely Portugal played poor but enough to beat the other teams.

As far as the holland v Portugal match (which I am sure is the reason for all this labelling), it was a really a very abnormal match in which both teams displayed more passion than sense. I seriously do not condone what happened in that match from both sides but i attribute the fault to the referee...when dealing with "kids" like the players were being one has to affirm authority and the russian referee never asserted himself.

In retrospect I think Portugal did a very good world cup by reaching the last 4.they played with more heart and passion than sense at times though. I still don't condone the diving from certain players but that can easily be remedied. My hopes are that we will keep on being consistent as we have been and we will find a replacement for Pauleta and Figo (Quaresma, anyone??)

Also for all of you who find it appaling that there is diving and so called cheating within the sport, I suggest video refereing as a good solution.

France didn't deserve this calculated victory. A smart dive put them in the finals.

The arbiter saw only one penalty: that is the advantage of being a big country. With these rules, a small country will never win a World Cup. It would be a shame for the "all mighty fox". These World Cup is a cheat.

From what I've seen on this thread and others the Portuguese have got more of a chip on their shoulder even than us English. They seem to be blaming everyone on the planet for anything they can think of, while absolutely failing to look at themselves and admit that, just like the rest of us, they aren't perfect.

English football and football culture has plenty of faults, but the intolerance for players cheating their fellow professionals is not one of them.

For me, this isn't an issue about whether England won or lost. Quite frankly, anyone watching them for the last 2 decades was expecting exactly that outcome.

The issue is not one about Ronaldo, either. He's a great but repulsive footballer, and he's done nothing recently for me to change that opinion. Rooney is a stupid young man who asked for what he got, deserved or not.

No, the issue is that Portugal's behaviour last night, from the constant protestations, via at least 3 clear dives in box (not to mention outside the box), to the haranging of the referee by Socalari, was quite disgusting. Yes, other teams dive; yes, other teams protest; yes other managers behave inappropraitely toward the ref; but not so consistently or blantantly within one game. No-one can honestly say these things did not happen, or that it did anything other than take away from Portugal's standard of football (good or bad). It would have been comical if it wasn't so sad.

It's sad because it shows how poorly the rules are enforced; how ill-disciplined the players are; and thus how dependent the game is upon the referee. I only wish FIFA took a more active interest in making sure the application of the rules was more consistent and, where necessary, retrospective. Let's face it, you don't need to go far - a trip to Twickenham or Lords would do - to learn how it could be done better.

I would like to add my considered opinions 1) The diving in general in this world cup has been horrendous. Personally, if i had to pick a team to take honours it would be Portugal - but many others push them close. Everyone is talking about the German v Italy game as the shining light of gentlemans football. I think everyone is forgetting the only reason for that is the ref. In the first half an hour players were going down as per usual but the ref ignored them or even better told them to stop being big wuss's. After and only after they realised divers wouldn't prosper they stopped and the effect on the game was magical and we got the best game of the tournament by a mile!
2) I am english, but i am going to defend Ronaldo here. He saw, as did practically anyone else watching except those too blinded by misguided patriotism that his team mate had been stamped on. I don't consider myself a thug but when i play if i see my team mate get stamped on the least action i would consider taking is to ask the ref to do something. Rooney deserved to go and Ronaldo had every right to ask the question of the ref. If it had been a mistimed tackle or a dive by Carvalho i would have been screaming at the tv to book Ronaldo - but it was an act worth a sending off. No question
3) England were poor - it was unfortunate that in our best game of the tournament an idiot who should know better stamped on someone. Still, we played better without him but it was no-ones fault except our own team that we went out. We shuold learn to deal with it. I don't mind berating divers - but we are singling out a team and all too quickly forgetting others (even our own) because they are the ones who beat us.
4) We have been called bitter losers - i agree. However - i think we have every right to be bitter because we lost. I hate losing. I have seen very teams fans act with any real dignity after being knocked out - Ecuador is one, Germany, Brazil and mexico stand out. Portugal fans - your acting as we did (thankfully without the mindless violence) on these message boards. Except your team were just as guilty as Frances for diving (and Henry got kicked = penalty). We all need to grow up. We have a beautiful game here that if played right can do magical things for people. Lets all work togethor to sort it out. Diving is creeping more and more into the english game, lets sort it out there before we start getting onto other nations.

Yes, the Portuguese dive. Big news, they have been doing it for years (Porto - UEFA Cup final Vs. Celtic, any game you care to mention on way to winning Champions' league), but so have every other nation. How convenient it is to forget Michael Owen's dive to get a penalty in 2002 against Argentina. Why is it that the English always seek a villain, someone to blame? The fact is, Rooney stamped on an opposition player, that's a red card, fact.
If we are going to moan about Ronaldo trying to "influence" the Ref to make what was in fact the correct decision, then why aren't we giving Ashley Cole the same treatment for trying to influence the Ref. NOT to send Rooney off (ie the wrong decision)?
All teams cheat, even good old honest England. It's a disgrace, but until FIFA actually stop mouthing off and actually carry through their threats to punish cheats, it will only get worse. Why not use video evidence and hand out ridiculously harsh punishments, such as 6 month bans for any player caught diving on camera? A crazy punishment, but I bet not one player would dive would they? Problem solved. Unfortunately FIFA spend all their time thinking up pointless, picky rules that kill the game as a spectacle, instead of addressing the real issues. Nice work Sepp.

It is shocking how cheap and despicable you guys have all become. Ronaldo had every right to put his country before his Man United mate. After all the one who misbehaved was Rooney. He could have crashed CAVALHO's nuts. Don't make excuses your team was just crap at the world cup.

Let us be clear that you lost to Portugal because you were frightened, and you didn’t play well.
Stop the excuses, and practice more.
How can you call yourselves journalists???

I cannot believe that people think that Rooney 'stamped' on Carvalho. Having seen the replay several times it's blatantly obvious that there was no intent or malice whatsoever. For a start Carvalho was behind him. I know Rooney is good, but eyes in the back of his head. The Portuguese were unsporting in the England game, and despicable against France. I agree with one of the previous posters, why is it that Fifa punish fouls retrospectively with the benefit of video evidence, and yet turn a blind eye to the diving cheats??? It must be addressed, or else by their lack of action they are effectively condoning the cheating.

Let us be clear that you lost to Portugal because you were frightened, and you didn’t play well.
Stop the excuses, and practice more.
How can you call yourself journalist???

The thing that seems strange to me is that Ronaldo was getting better at staying on his feet at ManU, however, as soon as he gets back with his national side, hes right back at it again. I think Roy Keane had told him to quit it as that didn't fly in the Premiership. Don't get me wrong... he's a fantastically talented player and I don't think we should get rid of him because of one tournament, but you just don't do that against a team mate. Maybe I've just been watching too much hockey...because if you did that in hockey, I do believe you would get a visit to the dentist!
Bottom line is this diving is far too wide spread and some drastic changes must be made by FIFA or more and more teams will live by the whistle and honest teams will end up going home (England).

Far too much anti english/portuguese sentiment in these posts. I thought this debate was supposed to be about the football, so why are various of the posters here insulting entire countries? Wayne Rooney's thuglike behaviour is not representative of all english people any more than Cristiano Ronaldo's oscar winning performances are representative of all portuguese. It's a shame that loads of people on both sides seem to think that behaviour in a football match entitles them to insult an entire nation of people. Wouldn't ever happen after a rugby match. Mind you, rugby players have far more integrity than their namby pamby little football counterparts!

England undeniably deserved to lose their quarter final. The question is, did portugal deserve to win it?

I had a very strong anti-portugal sentiment after the "battle of Nuremburg" against Holland. Figo's headbutt and then the following dive , the persistent play acting and cheating that was present throughout and the general negative image of football they portrayed. When it came to the England game , I don't think it was wrong to expect that Portugal would play on the edge of the rules . It is a well documented fact that Scolari encourages his teams to commit fouls and to use every cynical avenue possible to win the game. I am of two minds , the first is of the Martin Luther "If the world ends tomorrow , I will plant my apple tree today" stance, which is to say that we must clean up the game once and for all and deliver severe punishments to those who play act, dive, signal bookings or dismissals to the referees and the second is that maybe we should be more dishonest, more cynical, note Ronaldo's agressive "headnudge" on Rooney at the start of the second half , if that had been the other way round Ronaldo would have fallen to the floor clutching his face .

obviously were harder on portugal becasue they beat us... but thats common sense.

portugal are a bunch of cheats and ruined the world cup (not single handly cough... fifa cough)and i'm glad to see them go out. dives outside the box should yellow cards and dives inside should be reds... simply not awarding a dive is poor refereing cards must be shown. the fact the portugese team are just a bunch of cheats and cowards... they are footballs answer to cancer. people say england played poorly but atleast england were trying to win games and score 3 amazing goals ... portugal went 3 games without scoring a goal and apart from 'maniche' looked 'toothless'. fifa complete failure to host football (how is it possible to make a worlc cup bad... but seth blatter finds a way) means teams like portugal can get to semi finals. and england would of beat portugal if rooney was playing since they couldn't score a goal to save their life and we came closer then them with 10 men. portugal are scum (the team not the country... who are perfectly nice people) and nobody likes them... a bunch of diving cowards.

sorry if this poorly typed i just get annoyed reading engalnd fans support a team that robbed us

it is time that fifa stood up and made a stand, i keep hearing people on tv saying "well there was contact!" im sorry but if im not mistaken contact does not equal foul! as for the portuguese diving this is not just ronaldo but a great number of there team, against england and france this was clear but put in context is a game of football. imagine then they are playing an arfican team for example, for many of the players it is there chance to change there lives and the lives of there family by putting themselves in the shop window, then along comes portugal in the first game and the player gets sent off for being within 3 foot of pauletta!!! bang goes his game but more importantly his and his familys big and possibly only chance!
the beautiful game is looking a bit more like an ugly sister right now.

With all due respect, Portugal leaves Germany with the "fame" of divers and cheaters. Which is totally unfair and unwarrented.

Anyway, us portuguese, accept the refs decision yesterday, eventhough it's plane to see that, at the very best, it was a very close call for a penalty. Italy and France capitalized out of diving, Portugal never did so. If Portugal dives? Sure. Who doesn't? The two teams in the final did most of the diving, but for some reason, it's always about Portugal... We are the bad guys, the boogeyman. Why? Cos we're the only team in the last 4 that never won a WC, because we keep on beating England and Holland - nowadays only names and echoos of the past, nothing more.

What the brittish press have done, after what the dutch already had try to do in a totally unsportive and dirty fashion, is not even worth mentioning. English are sore loosers, with emphasis on the word "loosers". You try to destroy your own team with criticism and when you loose, espceially when you loose to a team that never won the WC but has been consistently better for the past 15 years, it hurts. And YOU lash, simply becauyse you don't know how to loose.

You should put your eyes in the "portuguese cheaters", who went down after a non existing penaly and the first thing they did was to congratulate the french (POR also doesn't beat the frogs since a long, long time). And still say, like me, France deserved to win. They were not the better team, Portugal did their duty - created chances - but couldn't score. Therefore, valid penalty or not, it's the refs call, we must accept it, it's part of the game. Move on and shut up.

About Ronaldo, well, I'm surprised the FA didn't release a statement, demanding and offical appology from Ricardo Carvalho for putting his testicles under Rooney's foot, as a clear attempt of sending him off.

Sure it doesn't look nice to see C Ronaldo asking the ref for a card. All this was 2 meters in the nose of the referee. While asking the ref to give another player a card is not nice, shoving isn't either. Both actions deserve a card. Maybe that's why Rooney got a red and not just a yellow. Portugal are the cheaters, but England's the one doing the shoving and the ball stamping.

These are facts. Not opinions.

You english (people) are sore loosers and have no fair-play whatsoever. Your players do, though (not Rooney, who honestly needed a smack or two when he was a kid). And I imagine I'm a bigger fan of the english team than yourselves. Because, actually I am and me too feel pitty that you don't reach higher. But the truth is that you've not deserved it latelly. Simple. When you realize England's problem is not the players, is not Sven, it's just ENGLAND itself, than you might actually grow up a bit.

Cheers. All the best. Good luck for Sir Alex, that now has to deal with two playground kids...

obviously were harder on portugal becasue they beat us... but thats common sense.

portugal are a bunch of cheats and ruined the world cup (not single handly cough... fifa cough)and i'm glad to see them go out. dives outside the box should yellow cards and dives inside should be reds... simply not awarding a dive is poor refereing cards must be shown. the fact the portugese team are just a bunch of cheats and cowards... they are footballs answer to cancer. people say england played poorly but atleast england were trying to win games and score 3 amazing goals ... portugal went 3 games without scoring a goal and apart from 'maniche' looked 'toothless'. fifa complete failure to host football (how is it possible to make a worlc cup bad... but seth blatter finds a way) means teams like portugal can get to semi finals. and england would of beat portugal if rooney was playing since they couldn't score a goal to save their life and we came closer then them with 10 men. portugal are scum (the team not the country... who are perfectly nice people) and nobody likes them... a bunch of diving cowards.

sorry if this poorly typed i just get annoyed reading engalnd fans support a team that robbed us

England blamed Ronaldo, Ronaldo has now blamed the ref. Everyone finds a villain for their defeat.

People forget football is entertainment. It will all be forgotten once the next villain pops his head above the parapet

obviously were harder on portugal becasue they beat us... but thats common sense.

portugal are a bunch of cheats and ruined the world cup (not single handly cough... fifa cough)and i'm glad to see them go out. dives outside the box should yellow cards and dives inside should be reds... simply not awarding a dive is poor refereing cards must be shown. the fact the portugese team are just a bunch of cheats and cowards... they are footballs answer to cancer. people say england played poorly but atleast england were trying to win games and score 3 amazing goals ... portugal went 3 games without scoring a goal and apart from 'maniche' looked 'toothless'. fifa complete failure to host football (how is it possible to make a worlc cup bad... but seth blatter finds a way) means teams like portugal can get to semi finals. and england would of beat portugal if rooney was playing since they couldn't score a goal to save their life and we came closer then them with 10 men. portugal are scum (the team not the country... who are perfectly nice people) and nobody likes them... a bunch of diving cowards.

sorry if this poorly typed i just get annoyed reading engalnd fans support a team that robbed us

it is time that fifa stood up and made a stand, i keep hearing people on tv saying "well there was contact!" im sorry but if im not mistaken contact does not equal foul! as for the portuguese diving this is not just ronaldo but a great number of there team, against england and france this was clear but put in context is a game of football. imagine then they are playing an arfican team for example, for many of the players it is there chance to change there lives and the lives of there family by putting themselves in the shop window, then along comes portugal in the first game and the player gets sent off for being within 3 foot of pauletta!!! bang goes his game but more importantly his and his familys big and possibly only chance!
the beautiful game is looking a bit more like an ugly sister right now.

obviously were harder on portugal becasue they beat us... but thats common sense.

portugal are a bunch of cheats and ruined the world cup (not single handly cough... fifa cough)and i'm glad to see them go out. dives outside the box should yellow cards and dives inside should be reds... simply not awarding a dive is poor refereing cards must be shown. the fact the portugese team are just a bunch of cheats and cowards... they are footballs answer to cancer. people say england played poorly but atleast england were trying to win games and score 3 amazing goals ... portugal went 3 games without scoring a goal and apart from 'maniche' looked 'toothless'. fifa complete failure to host football (how is it possible to make a worlc cup bad... but seth blatter finds a way) means teams like portugal can get to semi finals. and england would of beat portugal if rooney was playing since they couldn't score a goal to save their life and we came closer then them with 10 men. portugal are scum (the team not the country... who are perfectly nice people) and nobody likes them... a bunch of diving cowards.

sorry if this poorly typed i just get annoyed reading engalnd fans support a team that robbed us

it is time that fifa stood up and made a stand, i keep hearing people on tv saying "well there was contact!" im sorry but if im not mistaken contact does not equal foul! as for the portuguese diving this is not just ronaldo but a great number of there team, against england and france this was clear but put in context is a game of football. imagine then they are playing an arfican team for example, for many of the players it is there chance to change there lives and the lives of there family by putting themselves in the shop window, then along comes portugal in the first game and the player gets sent off for being within 3 foot of pauletta!!! bang goes his game but more importantly his and his familys big and possibly only chance!
the beautiful game is looking a bit more like an ugly sister right now.

I support a Championship side in England, which unlike the Premiership isn't rife with players diving all over the place. Occasionally a player does try this method to decieve the referee and it instantly vilified by the watching crowd, opposition players and importantly often their own manager. When my team recently had a brief stint in the Premiership, it appears there different rules apply. And it is not just the foreign players who are guilty.

Diving is cheating, and I hate to see players do it. And yes, England players have occasionally gone down to easy, though at least they have the decency to only do so once contact has been made, unlike some of the players last night. But if the referees and FIFA don't do anything about it, if the cheats are allowed to win then it will only get worse. When you see good, talented players cheating, when they have the ability to win the match without doing so, that's when it's gone too far.

I just hope that when the Premiership starts next month that the English referees and the FA are strong enough to clamp down on this behaviour. If England wants to take the moral high ground they have ensure that diving is eradicated from the English game. Only then can the English lobby the rest of the world on this point.

All this discussion about which team is most proficient at cheating and who are the worst losers is ridiculous. There is no debate - Portugal are the most proficient cheats, and Portugal are the worst losers... Does anybody disagree?? Portugal have beaten England yet again - they are bigger cheats, and worse losers BUT - when it comes to football...
Portugal were not good enough to beat England even when England were down to 10 men. England didn't "lose" - they were eliminated on penalties - it's not the same. Portugals record against England is very poor in fact, despite the fact that they have eliminated them from the last two major tournaments. As a Portugal supporter further up the Blog says, let's do it again, the sooner the better.
In the meantime, let's look forward to a final between two teams who can ACTUALLY PLAY FOOTBALL!! Also, let's hope that they DO play football, because, as we've seen, having the ability to play doesn't necessarily mean that teams use that ability. I just hope that both teams have a good game left in their legs - they should have, it's not like they're working 9 - 5 is it?

There's an earlier comment from a Portuguese fan about how England failed to lose with dignity. Did I imagine Scolari's ranting at the ref last night, as well as the subsequent claims (by Scolari and Ronaldo)that Ronaldo was pushed by Sagnol, despite tv pictures showing it was a blatant dive?

Yes all teams cheat, all teams have players who take dives and harangue referees, but few seem to have adopted the mindset en masse quite like the Portuguese. They've been a disgrace to the tournament, collectively, from the manager down.

Let's get a few things straight about all this anti Ronaldo/Portugal claptrap.Portugal didn't put England out by diving.Ronaldo didn't get Wee'un Rooney sent off... his disgusting stamp on a fellow professional got him (rightly) red-carded.

It would do the BBC and their so-called experts more credit if they focused on how bad England played and put the blame on England's exit where it belongs, on the players and the coach.

Oh and isn't it interesting that all the focus is on diving and not on the violent conduct of Wee'un Rooney (stamping) and Peter Crouch (hair pulling)?

As for Ronaldo... being a Liverpool supporter I have no love for the guy.... but I have to say he is more sinned against than sinner. Go back and look again at the Holland match. The Dutch kicked him off the pitch. Against France he showed why he is without doubt the best young talent on show in Germany.

It's time for all the England boo boys to catch themselves on, grow up and recognise that England are not the World beaters your BBC and press ALWAYS make them out to be prior to a major tournament.

Can someone please tell Christiano Ronaldo that the French fans weren't booing him due to him being a dengerous player, but they were actually booing him because he is quite simply a cheat.

It is players like him who dive to try and win fouls, attempt to con the referee's and try to get fellow professionals sent off during matches at any level that are ruining football for everyone.

It has even got to a point where as a man who always dreamt or playing professional football as a bou am now more interested in watching cricket as, as we saw during the Ashes and recent Sri Lanka Text series' is played in a much more sporting manner yet still with both teams wanting to win every match.

FIFA need desperately to get to grips with this cheating that is ruining the sport of football, world-wide before it is too late.

FACTS!!!
total shots on goal: P 12 - 5 F
Ball possession: P 59% - 49% F
Penalties: P 0 - 1 F

I have to say with 100% certainty that portuguese people are some of the most polite, honest, non-agressive, non-cheating persons in the world!

Now i also think they "dive" a lot in the games, I don't call that cheating, i call it STUPIDITY! If you are stupid enough to think they won ANY game because of ANY dive then you are just stupid, the refe