Their Cheating Hearts:
worldcup_theater"As soon as the first card happy referees set the tone of the tournament, a number of players - not all certainly but enough - have tried to use it to their advantage. A roll here, a dying swan routine there: one could be forgiven for thinking on occasion that there were more snipers in the upper tier of German stadiums this summer than on the rooftops of Basra.
The game is turning into a theatre for outrageous charlatans and thieves, conning those watching in the grounds and at home as much as they are the referees. The art of defending, if not a dying one then certainly very unwell, becomes a lottery when a mistimed tackle could easily be your last contribution to a game."
...
"Only when the punishment truly fits the crime will we start to rid the game of this cancer and maybe avoid the heartbreak of another tournament that promises us the world and then runs off with a Portuguese waiter with an eye for the theatrical."
