This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

This Might Be The Stupidest Football Thing We've Ever Seen

We give them both a 10.
YouTube

The sportiverse is having a good old laugh at this one, and so it should.

Football players are known for falling to the ground in mock agony at the faintest contact, in an attempt to win a free kick. But this is ridiculous. In fact this is twice as ridiculous as any soccer dive you've ever seen before. Literally.

This is two players in the second tier of Brazilian football. There were synchronised divers at the recent Rio Olympics who were less in-time as they plummeted downwards. Watch and weep.

So basically, you've got two big tough guys eyeballing each other, foreheads almost touching -- or perhaps actually touching -- in an attempt to bait each other into a head-butt, which would of course result in a send-off.

Then both of them seem to decide in unison "hey, I could pretend he head-butted me and fall to the ground with great theatrics".

So it went.

Surprisingly, both players avoided sanction. Football's governing body FIFA has cracked down on such cheating in recent years. Referees are encouraged to dismiss actors from the field with the same swiftness with which they send off players guilty of genuine acts of foul play.

They missed this one. But the internet didn't.

For the record, Vila Nova beat Goias 2-1. Vila Nova were the red guys. But the silly score was definitely 1-1. Actually, no it wasn't. It was also 2-1 to Vila Nova, who scored their winning goal from an extremely dodgy penalty after yet another dive. The horror starts at about 3 minutes in this video.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.