Also interesting:
Meh, I’d call it gamesmanship. Fun and games. But that’s just me.
I don’t care for it. I prefer to watch them play football.
Widespread sexual harassment (in some cases, even sexual battery) of female journalists at World Cup.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/04/football/world-cup-female-journalist-harassment-spt-intl/index.html
Try googling Marcus Smart, one of the top NBA players, and “flops.” NBA, NFL, and there are the occasional beanball-induced brawls in MLB too. Soccer is no different. The players are human and have emotions and many attempt to game the system for advantage.
While we’d all like them to “just play the game,” it’s just part of the tapestry in every sport. If Neymar, one of the best players in the world, wants to roll around on the pitch like idiot, then we fans can laugh and make fun of him.
Which we do, plus hate on him. Then there are other great players that thankfully don’t practice those shenanigans.
Is there a soccer version of Shaqtin A Fool?
James Harden, who won the league MVP this past NBA season is a classic “flopper.” He’s a Neymar-level type player, an outstanding player, who throws his hands up every time he drives the to the basket. And he gets fouls called on his opponent all the time. It looks ridiculous and drives opponents nuts, but he gets to shoot ALOT of free throws.
To opposing fans, his historionics are a mockery to the game. So we love to hate it. I look at it and say, it’s all part of the game. Personally, I don’t want a bunch or robots playing.
Maybe you guys might remember, but at the end of the 2011 Women’s World Cup quarterfinal match between the United States and Brazil, a Brazilian player named Erika went down without being touched and played dead for about four minutes before she was stretchered off the field. Upon being carried off the field, she ran right back onto the field to a chorus of boos. The injury was a complete farce, but I remember it. 
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) of South Africa just released a new TV commercial mocking Neymar:
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/watch-kfc-ad-world-cup-injury/
Okay, but there is a WHOLE lot of middle ground between robots and Neymar type theatrics.
And it was ever so satisfying to watch Abby Wambach tie the game during the extra time that was added as a result of Erika’s absurd behavior.
But extra time was added to the match and we remember it.
Many, many, many years ago, I went through a coaching certification course. During the introductory session, the instructor theatrically fell down to his knees and started begging an imaginary referee with his hands like he was praying [-O< and said “That’s an Italian playing soccer” or something along those lines.
Anyway, to me, it’s all part of the drama of “theatre.” 
OMG, that KFC ad is hilarious! :))
I watched the KFC ad on YouTube, and apparently a lot of people find it racist.
Hopefully, the notoriety will have a positive effect on Neymar’s future behavior in games. If it wasn’t obvious to refs before, it sure will be now. If I were the ref, then I’d let him writhe in pain and play on. :))
This behavior is by no means new for Neymar.
I’m glad the Brazil-Belgium match is the 11:00 AM PST match tomorrow. At least I get to see the 2nd half. It should be the more exciting of the two matches or tomorrow.
I’m looking forward to the Uruguay-France match in the morning as well.
Unfortunately I won’t be able to watch the Brazil-Belgium match in the afternoon.
‘Try googling Marcus Smart, one of the top NBA players, and “flops.”’
Sure, some NBA players flop to try to draw a charge, and it’s annoying. But men’s pro soccer takes the fakery to a whole other level of annoyance. Falling down easily upon contact is one thing, but in soccer it’s the writhing in agony that is way over the top. You would think they had a limb torn clear off in that minor contact by the way they carry on - until they see that they didn’t get the call from the ref, then a miraculous recovery ensues and they quickly jump to their feet and rejoin the action.
That’s one reason I don’t normally watch soccer on TV. The phoniness is just too much and too silly. The other reason is that under the current rules the game is too unbalanced in favor of the defense. Scoring a goal is so difficult that it becomes either an accident or a miracle - commonly resulting in the need break perpetual ties by abandoning playing soccer and resorting to penalty kick shootouts. Imagine how ridiculous it would be if it were so hard to score in the NBA that to decide the contest you had to give up on basketball and play a game of HORSE after two overtimes.
The goal of a flop in soccer is to get a foul called or burn time. Stoppage time is almost always added to games, so there’s some compensation for the “phoniness.”
Some NBA players flop? Draw a charge? Besides, the charge vs. blocking foul, there’s other histrionics. Let’s start at the top. LeBron James is a big crybaby. He gets fouls called for him, because he’s LeBron. I’ve watched him in 4 straight NBA Finals against my favorite team, the Golden State Warriors. He whined on national TV and helped get Draymond Green suspended in Game 5 of the 2015-2016 NBA Finals, forever altering NBA history. The Warriors might not have been able to sign Kevin Durant if they had won that series. Anyway, LeBron complained (“phoniness”) and the NBA took action.
And then there’s Russel Westbrook, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, James Harden as mentioned earlier. I can keep going but I won’t. The NBA has also cracked down on flopping, so the NBA is a little better today. “Phoniness” just takes different forms in different sports leagues. But it’s prevalent nonetheless.
How about “unbalanced” on offense? How about James Harden, who averages 10 free throws attempted per game? It’s the exact opposite of soccer, all the points that are “given away” to Harden changes the outcome of almost every game. The Houston Rockets, between Chris Paul and Harden, get about 15 additional free throws per game. So, as I said, “phoniness” affects all sports. It’s the nature of sports. The saying goes, “if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.”
Sorry, not buying it. There’s drama and “phoniness” in sports period.
Just as much scoring in soccer as in American football.
For basketball, all you need to watch is the last 5 minutes. 