Eduardo’s popularity takes a dive (with video evidence)

Ollie Irish

27th, August 2009

45 Comments

Just a couple of days after I named Eduardo as one of the most popular players in the Premier League, he goes and does this:


Arsenal CheatsFunny video clips are a click away

Oh dear. Blatant dive by the Croatian. Not quite as shameful, but still very disappointing, is Arsene Wenger’s (unsurprising) refusal to condemn his player: “I do not go as far to say Eduardo dived. He went down, for what reason I do not know. Having seen it again on television, it doesn’t look a penalty.”

Yeah, tell it to the judge. I know that Wenger admitted recently that he deliberately doesn’t see incidents in which his own players have erred, but who is he kidding? Eduardo’s tumble was one of the most obvious attempts to “win” a penalty I’ve seen in years.

Eduardo scored the resulting penalty himself, to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead. They went on to win 3-1 but it was such a wide margin of victory that even the most diehard Bhoy couldn’t claim that Celtic were robbed.

Celtic’s gaffer, Tony Mowbray, graciously admitted after the match that Arsenal deserved to go through. Good man, Tony.
Really Eduardo deserves at least a one-match ban in Europe for this, but I doubt anything will come of it. Shame.
Thoughts please…

Posted in Arsenal, Champions League, FAIL, Videos

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45 Comments

  1. Leo says:

    Don’t care about him. I love Arshavin though. Comes on, does his thing, scores a beauty(in less than 2 min.), simply genius

  2. Ollie says:

    Arshavin = my favourite player in the Prem. And I say that as a Spurs fan.

  3. Sheps says:

    Dispicable. I can’t see why, in obvious cases like this, they don’t just ban the fucker for 6 months. How is this any different from taking drugs? It’s cheating, and worse in this case it’s to the dentriment of fellow professionals. I was thoroughly disgusted.
    And it ruined what might, just might have been an interesting match.
    Btw. Donati’s goal – awesome.

  4. V says:

    Interesting. Do you think all of the divers should be serving at least a one-match ban or just Eduardo? So how much would you give for a reckless tackle that resulted in an injury, half a year, a year? Or do you think the gravity of the offense is about the same?
    I think everyone is so upset about it and calling for his head now because they’re used to Eduardo the victim. But really, is there a striker who hasn’t dived at least once? It does look pretty bad, but if the ref didn’t call it, it would probably cause nothing more than a sneer on MOTD. It didn’t change the outcome of the match and he doesn’t have a habit of doing this either. I think a ban is a little too harsh.

  5. Ollie says:

    Sorry V, but your defence smacks of an Arsenal fan with the same blinkered vision as Wenger. Arsenal were only 1-0 up because of an act of cheating. I’d say exactly the same if it was a player from my team. Screw club loyalty, this is a bigger issue. Disappointed in Eduardo.

  6. Philando Torres says:

    Normally I’d write this off to a sign of the times and all that shite. However, Arsenal were cruising with a 2-nil aggregate lead and looked capable of scoring a few from open play. So, Eduardo’s dive seems like a force of habit in this context. Even when he doesn’t need to – he dives. That’s why he’s a tit.
    Don’t bother banning him though – let him deal with the incessant booing by away fans.

  7. D says:

    This was a match where the first goal was going to make a huge difference. Had Celtic scored it, the game would have been entirely different.
    As it was, the tie was wrapped up by an outrageous bit of cheating.
    I’d say not just Celtic, but any team that suffers like this, have every right to feel aggrieved.
    At such a high level these things matter. No scrub that, at all levels these things matter.

  8. V says:

    I’m not an Arsenal fan but someone who’s watched him since he was 19 so I know how he plays. So yes, I could be partial about him and yes, I was disappointed too. But alright, lets say he deserves to be sanctioned, lets ban him. You still haven’t answered my question from my first reply. How would you go about banning for a potentially career ending injury resulting from a reckless tackle? That only got a three match ban, even if it had way more serious consequences. Someone suggested a 6 months ban – how is cheating more detrimental to fellow professionals than the lack of professional care for their well being?
    I’m genuinely interested in your system of values.
    Also, even if the ref didn’t call it and Arsenal didn’t score the subsequent two, they still would’ve gone through. Even though Celtic played well, did they ever look like they’d be able to score two without conceding? Lets be honest here, it was much less of a robbery than in some other cases that went and will continue to go unpunished.

  9. Ollie says:

    Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo is difficult to judge. I maintain it was accidental, even if Taylor meant to let Eduardo ‘know he was there’. Intentional violence obviously deserves a much stiffer penalty than ‘simulation’.

  10. Sheps says:

    I would say, V, that it is a question of intent.
    Did Eduardo intend to cheat fellow professionals? Clearly.
    Did Martin Taylor intend to hurt Eduardo or put him out of football for months? Clearly not. Yes, it was a careless tackle but it was born out of overenthusiasm and my guess is his manager’s encouragement to “get stuck in”. Football is a contact sport, injuries will always happen. There’s a whole world of difference between that challenge and the likes of Roy Keane’s challenge on Alf-Inge Haageland – for which I would completely go along with the arguments you make.
    Diving and cheating, however, is clearly avoidable.
    Btw, as an aside. I would strongly agree that it did not affect the outcome. That first goal killed a contest that was still alive, even by the smallest thinnest thread before. The game I thought was about 50-50 before the penalty, if Burnley beat United through having about 30-70 of the game then I’m sure Celtic could have managed 2-0 by having 50-50 of the game. Probably not, but maybe.

  11. Leo says:

    Sheps how can you compare Burnley vs United and Arsenal vs Celtic?

  12. V says:

    I appreciate your arguments, and yes, the intent one is pretty strong. However, as much as I detest cheating, I still think in the grand scheme of things it’s a milder offense than dangerous play, simply because it doesn’t put anyone at risk.
    Tackles can be done in a clean way and if the player gets injured there’s nothing you can do about it, but if you go for the player instead for the ball, you must be aware you’re putting him in a greater risk of getting injured, even if that’s not what you wish for. It may not be intent but it’s recklessness and it should be dealt with because it’s just as harmful for both the game and the players.
    Eduardo and Taylor aren’t important, they can be players X and Y in a hypothetical situation, I was only interested in how are these offenses compared from your point of view because I see people cry out for similar sanctions. There’s a lot of inconsistencies in sanctioning, and that’s basically as awful as the offenses themselves.
    And I can’t wait for the day there’ll be two refs on the pitch and challenge replay like there is in virtually every other sport, so cheating will be finally done with.
    Thanks for the discussion btw.

  13. Makandal says:

    “Sorry V, but your defence smacks of an Arsenal fan with the same blinkered vision as Wenger.”
    I would not say Arsene had blinkered vision when he admitted that his team didn’t deserve the penalty. Something I’m pretty sure SAF or Benitez would never say no matter what.

  14. Nako says:

    Interesting points from both sides. It is very easy as a fan of football to be enraged by any bit of cheating, such as Eduardo’s blatant dive in this match. However, realistically, throughout the run of one match, how many times do all the members of one squad ‘pretend’ or ‘cheat’ to get the call in their direction? Certainly too many to count.
    Therefore, as unfortunate as it is, how can you sanction one player for diving in a ‘game-changing’ situation, when his team mate or opposition might do something similar in another area of the pitch? Diving with intent of winning a penalty call is clearly the worst-case scenario, but it is just as bad anywhere else on the pitch. Due to the discrepancies that involve different ‘cheating’ situations, it would be totally unfair to sanction one player, because of a ‘bad’ dive, when there may have been 10 dives in the match, 20 in the next match, and upwards of 1000 during an entire season. For one player to be banned for any period of time could only be done if all offenders would be treated the same. However, that is not going to happen, because you cannot give a dive a ‘grade of cheating’ and say this one merits a ban, the next does not, and the one after, might be worthy.
    So give him his boo’s, sing some insulting song to him, and move on to the next diving player. I can’t even count how many dives I have seen that make this one seem mild. And we all know there have been many worse than this.
    After all, the laws of the game state that ‘unsporting behavior’ merits a yellow card, not a one match, one month, or six month ban as mentioned above.
    We can complain when players cheat because it ruins the credibility of a match and because it is no longer ‘old fashioned football’ but any team that any of you support has players that have cheated by diving or simulating. It is easy to get angry about the player of another team cheating, but try realizing and admitting your favorite players do it too.

  15. Elio says:

    Wasn’t he in your popular Premier League players team? Not any more…

  16. Michael says:

    Okay this is just fucking ridiculous now. Why is Eduardo receiving so much shit from the media when other divers get nothing more than a slight mention of a “dubious penalty”. Why now? People are acting like he is the first diver ever. A two match ban? Fuck off. He dived. He deserves to be punished. But why now?
    And Ollie, show me a successful manager that publicly rags on their players for diving. Wenger admitted Eduardo dived. That is more than what any other successful manager would have done.
    Divers should be punished. Eduardo should be punished. I just do not understand why Eduardo is the catalyst for this change. Where were all you fucks when Gerrard dived? Even Eboue didn’t get as much shit as this.
    This overreaction just shows how media hungry we have all become.

  17. Sheps says:

    Michael, I can tell you I was calling for lifetime bans when Gerrard dived haha!
    Nako, your post is really quite illogical. Since when were there 20 dives in a match – don’t be ridiculous! Yes sometimes players will call for a throw in that they know is the oppositions but why the hell can’t we say that’s a different level of cheating as opposed to trying to win a penalty? Of course we can exactly the same as a yellow card is different from a red.
    It’s not the job of the fans to give out their versions of “justice” through singing some songs. Look how out of hand that can get in the last couple of days.
    None of my favourite players dive. Because I dislike all players who dive. For instance – used to like Eduardo, don’t anymore. There was a time (about 3 games!) when, as a United fan I liked Ronaldo, but I haven’t since his first dive although of course I’ve greatly appreciated his goals over the last few seasons.
    And Wenger DID NOT admit Eduardo dived. He described it as “evasive action” – that is not the same as saying he dived, far from it.

  18. pat magroin says:

    beautiful swan dive … if it had been the other end mcdonald would have done the same … ps did anyone else notice boruc doing the david brent office dance when the penalty was taken? fat dick

  19. Makandal says:

    “And Wenger DID NOT admit Eduardo dived. He described it as “evasive action” – that is not the same as saying he dived, far from it.”
    Of course Sheps, Wenger did not come out and chastise his player in public (good move by any manager). What manager would unless they want to lose their team? However he did admit that it did not deserve a penalty, no? That right there tells you what he thought of Eduardo’s action. Something I don’t think Ferguson and Benitez would have done. For that he’s to be applauded.

  20. Peter says:

    I think you ought to put Arsene Wenger in for the most unpopular manager. The man is more blind than Stevie Wonder and never sees anything if his precious team have made a dive but if it’s against his team, oh no he manages to see that. Eduardo is a typical latin american piece of cheating shit. The only reason he gets any sympathy is because of his broken leg against Birmingham. Maybe he should be kept out of the game longer if all he’sgoing to do is this. Arsenal should be chucked out of the Champions League and put in the Europa League lets see what Wenger’s knowledge for Japanese football does there. Celtic should be put through into the Champions League because they were cheated.
    Also Wenger’s love of youth and foreign players is getting on everyones nerves, it’s starting to look like he’s a paedophile.

  21. Sheps says:

    No, what tells you what he thought of Eduardo’s action is his direct description of it being “evasive action”.
    I’d applaud Wenger if he said, “my player dived, he is fined two weeks wages” – which is the truth. Applauding him for saying “it wasn’t a penalty” is silly as if he’d have said it was he’d have made an idiot of himself.

  22. dokieh says:

    What a dive!!
    Spanish La Liga’s blog in English: http://spanishlaliga.wordpress.com/

  23. Peter says:

    Ollie – Please tell us why Arshavin is your favourite player in the Premier League, because I have the strange feeling that he is a twat as well and I was curious whether you liked him because of his personality or because he reminds of you of the stupid car insurance advert.
    Btw – If i find who made that advert I would kill them.

  24. meji says:

    Maybe Eduardo was diving to protect himself? The guy is probably paranoid hes not going to take the full force of a collision – I sure as hell woudn’t. The ref was dumb enough to call it.

  25. skidoos says:

    I am lifelong gunner, and I as much as I love the lad I agree Dudu deserves a maximum two-match ban under the current UEFA rules. Ollie however is completely mental as any one with functional vision could have seen that Arsenal dominated Celtic throughout the first leg (without any cheating) and had them pretty much contained in the second (before and after the dubious penalty). For godsakes, Celtic only had two shots on target in both legs! So yes, Eduardo did dive and he deserves a ban however he doesn’t deserve to be treated like a pariah as if he’s the only player in England who has ever taken a dive, here’s looking at you Gerrard and Owen. Furthermore, it’s not like he’s a habitual offender like say Drogba or Cristiano was. So let’s just get off it until the ruling comes down from UEFA, it’s not like this has been a slow week or anything…

  26. Simon says:

    Dudu… really… do you have gay nicknames for all your players? Bendy for Bendtner, Moonie for Almunia maybe?

  27. Jake says:

    Peter… thanks for the laugh! Your post is as ridiculous as they come.
    The player is not a persistent diver, so your bigoted views are completely misplaced. If you have evidence to the contrary, lets see it. He’s no different than other divers who get away with it and this witch hunt is absurd.
    Also it’s amazing how there’s always an excuse for other unsportsmanlike behaviour like body-checking players in goal-scoring opportunities, but once a Johnny Foreigner dives, he’s scum for good.

  28. Peter says:

    Jake – very true I admit I was perhaps overzealous in my heavyhanded approach but I would say the same about any other player who dives be him a persistent diver or whether it was his first time. What does this message send out to fans looking on and wanting to be footballers. That diving is o.k? I think it does. I am not just targeting foreigners either, I would serve down harsher punishments to players like Gerrard, Lampard ane Rooney because they are no different. Don’t try and paint me as a bigot and a racist when I am neither especially not a racist.
    You must admit though that this pathetic ritual by Wenger of “I didn’t see the event” when its his players is pathetic but as soon as his players get a bit roughed up at places like Bolton and Blackburn for playing football he goes AWOL. Pathetic.

  29. mccoy says:

    let’s be real, had this involved a englishman do you think there would be such a huge uproar? gerrard did it in the champions league final to win his penalty aswell as rooney diving over sol’s out strecthed leg to end arsenal unbeaten run. was anything made of this? fuck no!

  30. Peter says:

    mccoy – I would like to hope that if it involved an englishman then justice would be served but justice is usually never served whether the players is english or foreign.
    Lets be honest going to Arsenal for english players is like going to a millwall and west ham game and expecting a warm atmosphere.

  31. Eduardo Snr says:

    Eduardo is only getting stick as he dared to take his fall against Celtic! Bet he and most of England didn’t realise the level of “celtic mindedness” in the media….
    For me football the remnants of honesty in the game truly died the day Rivaldo went down at the world cup – fifa/uefa had their chance to really make a statement – bottled it and now such actions occur in almost every match. Supporters are also to blame, supporting your team does not mean becoming blind…..

  32. col says:

    Surely the point here is when is a cheat a cheat.Any reasonable football supporter,fan follower would say Eduuardo knew what he was doing and HE DIVED TO GAIN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE.Arsene wenger as always did,nt see this offence,wrong doing by his team player.This is exactly what brings Arsenal,Arsene wenger and the whole game in to disrepute.Arsene has been at Arsenal for about 12 years but not once has he seen and admitted an offence by an Arsenal player however everytime an Arsenal team loses a game to another team [even lower league] he cannot bring himself to give any gracious words of praise.This coupled to his ability to see every offence against his team,makes me believe the problem starts at managerial level.This being the case maybe cheating players having points deducted from the team would bring a swift end to the cheating,and throw in the bullying of officials,disrespect to officials could find we get a new top 4 this season. Wenger,Ferguson and Benitez could find themselves facing relegation due to the cheating and poor sportsmanship of themselves and their players.

  33. col says:

    Surely the point here is when is a cheat a cheat.Any reasonable football supporter,fan follower would say Eduuardo knew what he was doing and HE DIVED TO GAIN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE.Arsene wenger as always did,nt see this offence,wrong doing by his team player.This is exactly what brings Arsenal,Arsene wenger and the whole game in to disrepute.Arsene has been at Arsenal for about 12 years but not once has he seen and admitted an offence by an Arsenal player however everytime an Arsenal team loses a game to another team [even lower league] he cannot bring himself to give any gracious words of praise.This coupled to his ability to see every offence against his team,makes me believe the problem starts at managerial level.This being the case maybe cheating players having points deducted from the team would bring a swift end to the cheating,and throw in the bullying of officials,disrespect to officials could find we get a new top 4 this season. Wenger,Ferguson and Benitez could find themselves facing relegation due to the cheating and poor sportsmanship of themselves and their players.

  34. Makandal says:

    Didn’t FIFA suspend Rivaldo after the game when they realized what he had done? Why such sanctions are no longer given is a puzzle to me.

  35. Tennscot says:

    I`m a Rangers fan and I say He should be punished , No better than Lafferty when he dived, Two match ban and a fine would be Appropriate

  36. Anonymous says:

    It looked like there could be contact, even from the replay. Do I think it was enough contact to bring a player down if he wanted to stay on his feet? No. Do I think that deserved a penalty? No. Do I think Eduardo would’ve gotten up and complained if he didn’t get a PK from the ref? Probably not.
    As far as dives go, there are plenty, plenty more that go by unpunished. If it were any English player, the media would’ve simply brushed it aside. But oh no, he’s an Arsenal player; he’s a foreign player. Arsenal fans have given their own players plenty of stick for diving — just look at Eboue.
    The way the comments and media have been portraying this incident it’s as if this is the dive to outdive all dives ever dived. That is simply not true.

  37. Anonymous says:

    Fantastic point. I completely agree with you, that point deductions should be made. I can’t stand it when Wenger complains about losing to Bolton or Blackburn or even when Sheff Utd beat them (they couldn’t score a goal for 60 minutes against JAGIELKA), It’s the managers that are the problem and as you rightly said, being a fan doesn’t mean you should go blind.

  38. Peter says:

    Good point I still can’t forgive Steven Gerrard for his dive against Sheff Utd on the first game of the season we were winning 1-0 and drew in the end 1-1 what a cheating bastard. However you are spot on if Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney or Walcott had dived then no-one would see it but that still doesn’t make diving right.

  39. Peter says:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8223917.stm
    Yes, justic done hopefully he will get a two match ban.

  40. Derek says:

    I don’t understand why its a yellow card if the ref sees it, but after the game it becomes a two match ban. Also, if UEFA gives the ban, they have to be prepared to hand out two match bans to anyone who dives, which I doubt they will. If they do, then great, maybe it will help stop cheaters.

  41. Dave says:

    Who gives a crap what Wenger thinks. It’s alawys the same from every manager (Fergie is the worst culprit) They see everything when they have a penalty denied and see nothing when their player dives.

  42. Ollie says:

    @ Peter: I love the Arsh because even though you know he’s this sexist little Borat-type of character, he’s so much fun to watch. And so damn good.

  43. Marty Stuart says:

    Eduardo deserves to have his leg broken again after that dive!!

  44. kevin osemene says:

    For me its worth a diving,looking at it is not really a diving cos the keeper is already heading 4 the ball and the leg of eduardo but the player is frightening so dat he wont get injured,and now they hav appeal to get rid of the two match ban.

  45. kevin osemene says:

    For me its worth a diving,looking at it is not really a diving cos the keeper is already heading 4 the ball and the leg of eduardo but the player is frightening so dat he wont get injured,and now they hav appeal to get rid of the two match ban.

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