Flopping, faking injuries, trying to con the referee — parts of this beautiful game of soccer and the World Cup that we all undoubtedly hate.
But how could we go about ridding the game of these nasty imperfections which turn off so many would-be soccer fans from the sport? Since FIFA, world soccer's governing body, seem uninterested in doing much of anything about it, we must resort to ridicule as a deterrant for players.
Luckily for soccer fans, The Wall Street Journal has helped to get the ball rolling on this through much of the 2014 World Cup group stage.
Below are the number of perceived "fake injuries" and the amount of total "writhing time" which resulted from the perceived play-acting, as viewed and calculated by the WSJ staff.
Who might you expect to see near the top of the list? Brazil? France? All of South America and CONCACAF? Yes, they're all there.
Though we do appreciate that Brazil, who lead the tournament with the most perceived fake injuries, have shown very little conviction in their "injuries" and writhing time, realizing they're ruining the game for the rest of us and getting up and getting on with the game again.
