With a couple of high-profile incidents in recent weeks, the diving debate has once more reared its ugly head. On Thursday night in the Europa League, Tottenham Hotspur player Jan Vertonghen took a lot of criticism for going to ground under minimal contact in a coming-together with Roman Zozulya.
There was some contact as the two came together but Vertonghen's attempt to draw the touch of heads to the referee's attention has made him come out arguably worse from the episode than Zozulya. Here, Sports Mole picks out five of the worst play-acting incidents in football.
1. Rivaldo - Brazil vs. Turkey, 2002
Rivaldo has gone down in footballing history as one of the greatest players of the 1990s. He scored acrobatic goals, hat-tricks in Champions League games and some big goals in World Cups. However, he also has probably the worst attempt at a dive in footballing history to his name, too. In the 2002 World Cup Rivaldo, having had the ball kicked at his leg by Turkey's Hakan Unsal, made the strange decision to go down holding his face, which led to Unsal seeing red.
2. Alberto Gilardino - Celtic vs. AC Milan, 2007
While Rivaldo, at the time, got away with his, there would have been a serious investigation into the referee had Alberto Gilardino escaped punishment against Celtic in the Champions League in 2007. What follows is one of the most embarrassing attempts at a dive you are ever likely to see. Initially there may have been a foul, but seconds later when he decided to go to ground the only option was for Gilardino to get booked and receive European infamy.
3. Stevan Jovetic - Manchester City vs. Chelsea - 2014
This one from just a few weeks ago by Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic immediately ranks among the worst ever. The dead giveaway that he is trying to con the referee Phil Dowd is that he throws his arms up in the air as he goes down. Dowd, however, did not believe a word of it and handed Jovetic what might be the easiest yellow card he has ever had to award. This writer would expect this dive to still be in the reckoning for a top five place in another 10 years.
4. Morten Gamst Pedersen - Arsenal vs. Blackburn Rovers, 2009
Morten Gamst Pedersen is no stranger to the odd brilliant strike, but unfortunately the other side of his game was shown up in a terrible dive against Arsenal in 2009. He claimed that he was not trying to win a penalty against Bacary Sagna, but the quick look around at, presumably, the referee's position before he leaps off the 10-metre board is a real giveaway. Quite how he expected to get away with this one is very unclear.
5. Norbert Meier/Albert Streit - Koln vs. Duisburg, 2005
Players have so often been accused of cheating on the pitch, but managers are often able to swerve criticism. Duisberg head coach Norbert Meier, however, produced one of the most hilarious pieces of play-acting in an incident with Koln's Albert Streit. After a war of words, Meier actually attempts to headbutt Streit before throwing himself to the floor - holding the back of his head - quickly followed by the player. Streit was sent off, so the act worked, although Meier was soon banned for three months by the German FA after the video was analysed.
