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@thetopofmyvoice@toot.walesI know I’m a yank but tbh I just plain don’t get penalties etc in #soccer #football #worldcup I’m sure these dudes get hurt but it seems to go way beyond basketball/drawing the foul type stuff. The rolling around on the ground is def part of why a lot of US sports fans don’t take soccer seriously. I’m assuming I don’t understand this. But would anyone care to explain it? #CmonCymru
@thetopofmyvoice 4 reasons.1. A lot of fouls involve one player treading on another's foot. Modern soccer boots are made up of very soft leather on the instep and studded cleats on the sole. You can imagine what a stamp on the foot from a football boot would feel like.
2. As pitches have got better and football boots have got lighter, so have shinpads. I don't care how big you are, a kick on the shins is going to hurt.
...1/5
@thetopofmyvoice 2/5
3. Gaming the ref. In my day, If a ref reached for a red card, the opposing team would swarm round trying to persuade him not to send off the guilty party. Today, trying to get an opponent carded is (unfortunately) now all part of the game. Hence going down as if poleaxed if an opponent's arm brushes your face
Other's mileage may vary., of course. 
@thetopofmyvoice I really appreciate the acting jobs
@thetopofmyvoice 3/5 4. Evolution of the rules and role/responsibilties of the ref. Again, in my day(!), there used to be two categories of foul: one incurring a 'direct' free-kick & the other an 'indirect' one; the difference being you could score a goal directly from a direct free-kick (durr), but an indirect required you to pass to a teammate first. What determined whether it was one or the other was 'intent'. Discretion over intent has now been taken away from the ref.
@redpaul1 I actually remember this from my own childhood. Though I’ve had very little experience w the sport since then
@thetopofmyvoice 4/5 4..(cont). The idea, these days, in a legalistic pursuit of consistency, is to make referee's decision-making as discretion-free as possible. Meaning that ref's are now given a checklist & if an action ticks a box on that list, a foul must be awarded regardless of intent (you see that most clearly in handball - there's no 'accidental handball' any more). In FIFA's ideal world, refereeing would be all done by AI.
@thetopofmyvoice 5/5. 4. (cont.). So, given that ref's discretion as to intent has gradually but systematically been removed, to be replaced by a set of checklists, and that players all know what are on those checklists; then any time a player has a chance to get the ref to tick an item on that box... well, they're going to go for it. As per point 3, the players have got all legalistic too.
ENDS
@redpaul1 my god it all makes sense now
@thetopofmyvoice Ty. My work here is done. 