Goaltending is the same in the NBA, Draugnar. http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_11.html?nav=ArticleList

If the only way you can prevent a goal is to break the rules, then that's not fair play. What if Suarez engaged in a red-card style tackle to prevent a sure-fire goal? Surely that, just the same as a blatant handball to block a goal, "has a specific punishment within the rules".

I guess that shows how much I follow bball. The Wikipedia article I read needs updating. :) Thanks for showing me that, Putin.

Putin, a PK should be a certain goal, Suarez sacrificed possible future play on the infinitesimal chance that the shooter would fuck up, and the shooter fucked up. That's all there is to it.

Suarez sacrificed nothing. It was at the end of extra time and if the Gyan ball goes in, Uruguay is dead and Ghana goes to the semi-finals. So no future play for Suarez anyway.

It's a cheap win.

PKs are not anywhere close to a sure-thing.

http://www.arcticicehockey.com/2010/6/15/1519072/english-premier-league-penalty

You exchange a 100% rate of the ball going in and no future play for an 80% chance of the ball going in and a one-game suspension. With such incentives it's a wonder why we don't have Suarez style cheating all the time.

It was dealt with according to the rules. Red card + penalty. That Gyan managed to miss was his own fault. I think any player in Suarez position would (should) have done the same. If he would have tackled a player (without the intent to injure) to prevent him from scoring that would have been fine too.. it's all in the game.

Putin, the difference between Suarez and Henry is that Henry's went unnoticed while Suarez was punished correctly. Until FIFA says that cheating that determines the outcome of a game should be punished any differently from standard foul play, there is nothing to complain about. If Gyan had scored that penalty, you wouldn't complain about Suarez's play. As it stands, the action is no worse than any other red card-meriting foul.

This is irrelevant, as the athletes involved are not American, and the sport is not football.

Thanks.

<*dumps gasoline on Yellowjacket nest*>

<*flips lid open on lighter*>

Don't make me do it, YJ. ;-)

Ah, but Suarez is from Uruguay, in South America, so he is an "American," and this is actually football, just not the kind that is called football in the US.

@Putin - the difference is the rules of the game say there is a penalty involved for certain actions. They don't say you can't do those actions. So if you are willing to take the penalty, you perform the action. It is part of the game.

+1 Draugnar

Frankly, I can't understand how people could call that "cheating." There is a penalty for the action according to the rules, and Suarez realized that to take the penalty (a red card and penalty kick) would be better than to concede a goal. Thus, he made the play, and didn't try to disguise his action from the referee.

That's not cheating, it's good strategy. It's exactly the same as a basketball team who is losing by 3 intentionally fouling the opposing players with 20 seconds to go. The game prescribes a penalty, it's up to you to weigh up the strategic risks of the foul.

What is cheating is trying to hide what really happened from the referee. Maradona's handball, Henry's handball, a sneaky dive in the penalty box to con the ref into giving a penalty - those are all cheating. You're committing a foul play and then hoping the referee screws up to the benefit of your team, as you're not willing to accept the penalty the rules say you should take for the foul play.

Whenever a defender is in the area to make that goal saving tackle or handball in a game with major ramifications, they do it. Japan vs. USA in Women's World Cup finals did it. The fact is, the goal is pretty big, and generally it's rare that the goalie's not in a position to stop a shot but someone else is.

It is not part of the game. It is not on par with stopping time by fouling in basketball, which occurs in every basketball game. PKs for deliberate handball interference are not part of every game. They are not considered a legitimate strategy which is why the Suarez event was so controversial. You can say it's not cheating but don't make it sound like it was anything but a cheap tactic to get a cheap win. Celebrating this is like celebrating smash and grab wins by teams who do nothing but defend for 90% of the game only to score an own goal on a set piece.

So why wasn't Evra suspended for his racist remark towards Saurez?

It's cheating because you need to break the rules to prevent the goal. You deserved to be beaten and you weren't because automatic goals aren't awarded in football.

Anyway you should really reconsider defending this goon.

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/11/22/ajax-ban-uruguay-striker-luis-suarez-after-he-bites-player-video/

It's absolutely considered a legitimate strategy by anybody who has actually played or coached football, you don't see them all the time because it's rare that you're in a situation where it's possible and important to do. It requires there to be a one on one shot late enough in a game that it will certainly cause your team to lose or draw an important enough game that your loss for the next game is outweighed by the importance of getting the win and where a lone defender can only possibly stop the shot with an illegal tackle or handball. Those conditions are met in a very small percentage of football games.

It IS part of the game. Cheating? Perhaps. But I fail to see how it's different than fouling in basketball. Fouling is against the rules. If you do it, the opponent gets free shots. In hockey, you aren't allowed to hook or trip. If you do it, you go to the penalty box or, if it's during a breakaway, they get a free shot. In football, you aren't allowed to commit pass interference. If you do, you get a penalty. Same thing with soccer. With the possible exception of basketball, these things don't happen every game.

Where exactly is the line between "cheating" and "good strategy"? How is soccer somehow different than these other cases?

"It's cheating because you need to break the rules to prevent the goal. You deserved to be beaten and you weren't"

How is that any different than intentional fouling in basketball?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkAOftIGDX0

There's Japan doing a similar but more potentially harmful tactic in the Women's World Cup 2011 final. No one complains about that.

Fouling is not intentional you have to go for the ball (in both soccer and basketball) That's the difference. People are rightfully outraged in basketball by intentional fouls. If an intentional foul was done in a close which had finals implications, as the World Cup did and then the bewildered victim of the foul couldn't handle the pressure of the shots and missed, people would be outraged.

People were rightfully outraged by the Netherlands's brutal intentional tackling of Spain in the WC final. That type of play has no place in the game.

Every close basketball game I've ever seen involves the team on the losing end grabbing jerseys and/or hugging their opponents to send them to the foul line. You have a very strange idea of what actually transpires in basketball.

Why aren't they called intentional fouls?

Really Putin? An old video to try to degrade his reputation further? Why are you so dead set on mudslinging Suarez?

Of course he's always been controversial, he can dive like a Barcelonian at times, and he's misbehaved on the pitch. We don't need a story of him biting a PSV player several years ago to recognize this.

This isn't even what the thread's about. If you don't agree with me on the suspension, fine, but don't go taking every controversy he's ever been in just to show that you're right BECAUSE he did this and this before.

Regardless of what they're called, it's very clearly intentional and considered strategic.

Looks like the defender was going for the ball and missed. Not sure how this is equivalent to a blatant hand ball.

In Japan's WC final? No, she clearly wasn't going for the ball. She was coming in from a back angle, which is illegal. And did it right on the outside of the penalty area for a reason.

"Anyway you should really reconsider defending this goon.

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/11/22/ajax-ban-uruguay-striker-luis-suarez-after-he-bites-player-video/"

His coach at the time called it a 'love-bite', hehe.. but yea, he's passionate and has a winners-mentality which he may take a bit too far at times. He was suspended for a long time for that incident. His mentality is also the reason why he's so popular at all the clubs he's playing for. Anyway, professional fouls are part of the game and usually punished severely with a red card + penalty/free kick... it's hardly frowned upon because everyone would do the same in these situations.