Italy PK in 93rd minute?

[sdgukhsdgl]

Anybody watching at home know if it was legit or not? Sucks for Australia to be up a man for so long then to lose on a PK in extra time.  

[Triple B]

I will have to defer to RJW. None of the announcers over here seemed to be that upset over the call, I'm assuming it's because the guy who fouled was on the ground, but it sure didn't look like something you'd want called in the waning moments of a loser go home game ....... to this untrained eye.

Now I've got change my avatar again ......   >

[RJWGoBulls]

Not having seen the tackle yet...I can only go by what people have said...and that was that he went down kinda easy....personally dont know either way atm but I will let you know just as soon as I have seen a replay

[Triple B]

Not having seen the tackle yet...I can only go by what people have said...and that was that he went down kinda easy....personally dont know either way atm but I will let you know just as soon as I have seen a replay

He definitely went down easy and the announcers here said that if the defender had stayed on his feet there would have probably been no call .......... really sucks for Australia.

[outrunner]

The World Cup has turned into a joke. The games are no longer about who made great plays, but what the referees called. This will be just another game to a list of referee decided games.

1) USA v. Italy

2) South Korea v. Switzerland

3) Portugal v. Netherlands

4) Italy v. Australia

[RJWGoBulls]

It was a bit of a dodgy penatly...but he did impeed him...but I would have given it...you can tell by the reaction of the player what he was looking for it

[drdanny]

The World Cup has turned into a joke. The games are no longer about who made great plays, but what the referees called. This will be just another game to a list of referee decided games.

1) USA v. Italy

2) South Korea v. Switzerland

3) Portugal v. Netherlands

4) Italy v. Australia

I would disagree about these being referee decided games.  The referee strongly influenced the US-Italy game, but the US gave no indication of being able to score to decide that one.  The Portugal-Holland match got away from the referee, but I did not see that his calls benefitted Portugal.  As for SK-Switzerland, the second goal was the biggest dispute, and the referee got it right.  

[Velcro]

He definitely went down easy and the announcers here said that if the defender had stayed on his feet there would have probably been no call .......... really sucks for Australia.

Soccer players always go down easy... there is so much acting... every single play someone blows out an ACL or sprains an ankle, but they get right up after the card is shown and like magic, they are fine.

[hightechbull]

Soccer players always go down easy... there is so much acting... every single play someone blows out an ACL or sprains an ankle, but they get right up after the card is shown and like magic, they are fine.

Of course they go down easy.  The only protection a soccer player wears is his jock strap and his shin guards.  The NBA wears about the same protection and you see the same stuff going on in that sport.

Neanderthal slow footed players with no talent will try to push and shove.  The best players are taught to stay down to get the attention of the ref, especially if the penalty would lead to a penalty kick.  Dufus macho types would get right up and think they are a real man, but they are stupid because they just cost their team a rare scoring chance.

Over-acting is not encouraged in international soccer, and FIFA has cracked down on it.  Italy's superstar Totti tried to pull a acting job in the previous World Cup, and he got a red card for it, which probably led to Italy's early exit from that World Cup.

Calling a penalty kick in the waning minutes is completely legit.  It keeps the players on their toes, or the game would erupt into a push and shove match.

[Velcro]

Overacting may have been frowned upon in the past... but it is really not being addressed this cup.