Have you ever heard of remarks made by American football players about so-called “soccer” being a girly game? It may or may not be so, depending on which game aspects you focus on.
But if we have to think about feigning, that’s definitely one of the elements for which football players are infamous. As much as I know that flopping is a common thing in this game, my desire was to know about the biggest football divers ever. After all, I wasn’t disappointed with the results.
Mohamed Salah
One of the best Premier League players, Mohamed Salah, has earned his spot on this list after various football dives. More specifically, many fans accuse him of being a very bad flopper.
Be it as it may, Salah made a few funny dives that we all remember. For example, in the Liverpool vs Leicester game, the Egyptian had a stage fall in the penalty area. The referee was not sure about his decision, so VAR got into the game.
After consulting with the VAR room, the referee decided not to award a penalty. In contrast to this, we could also see some examples of Salah’s dives, which ended in a penalty or free kick and even a goal scored.
Harry Kane
The Harry Kane curse regarding trophies may not be the only peculiar thing about this player. Back when he was part of Tottenham, lots of people criticised him for being one of the frequent divers in football.
The top all-time scorer for England made referees call a few suspicious fouls this way. One of the most notable ones happened during the game between Tottenham and Brighton.
Namely, Lallana and Kane were chasing the ball when Kane bent over instead of going for the ball. This made Lallana push Kane a little bit, after which he dove forward and fell. The referee pointed towards the white spot, and Kane scored for Tottenham, bringing them victory.
David Luiz
David Luiz is more of an aggressive player than one of the football divers. Yet, there were instances of him feigning here and there. The one many fans talked about for weeks took place in the Man Utd vs Chelsea game in 2013.
It was almost the end of the game, and Chelsea had a one-to-nil lead. Luiz was protecting the ball from Raphael, and the United’s right-back and midfielder went for the ball and scratched Luiz’s ankle.
The Chelsea defender immediately fell to the ground, acting like he was injured. Moments later, the camera caught him smiling. After this match, the Chelsea coach said that Luiz was laughing at United fans because they bullied him. Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, said that this was a clear sign of flopping.
Neymar
Neymar must be one of the football divers featured in most internet videos and articles. Besides being an outstanding player, the Brazilian also made so many football dives that he became a meme, and sometimes the laughing stock of the Internet.
While it would be too hard to find his best dive ever, I did find interviews where Neymar speaks about this. In general, he said that he flops to avoid injuries. If he would play it rough, then the other players would make even worse fouls on him. Some legends, like Pele, told interviews that such a way of playing couldn’t go unnoticed or criticised.
Sergio Busquets
Plenty of football enthusiasts remember the Spaniard for his dirty play. His playing style and acting on the pitch made two different fan groups: the adoring fans and the despising fans. In addition to his rough play, Busquets made his way to the list of divers in football.
