It was a dive. Neill stuck his foot out in a sliding tackle that was timed poorly. I think he was following the expected trajectory of the ball instead Grosso cut to the right. There was a slight incidental conatct between Neill’s shoulder and the right leg of Grosso but no way enough to bring him down to the ground. Not sure, but It couldt be that Bresciano partially obstructed the referee’s view.
10 comments on “Video: Lucas Neill foul on Grosso: Italy- Australia”
Shourin, I’d say it was a classic case in basketball language of “drawing the foul.” Rossi’s turn confounded Neill, making his tackle late and nowhere near the ball. His body landed between Rossi and the ball, making contact with Rossi in a way that impeded his run. Could Rossi have stayed on his feet? Yes. He could have stumbled but kept his footing (and I have no doubt that Maradona or Tevez would have finished off the move), but Rossi would have been in a slightly weaker position, having lost a half a second to getting over Neill. He certainly made a meal of it going down, in the way that pretty much every one does these days — the sprawling dive. But you can’t go flying in to a tackle that late in the penalty area without a high probability of conceding a penalty. Lucas Neill is a real clogger, who has broken the bones of two Liverpool players over the past three years. I don’t have much sympathy for him! I don’t think he was trying to bring down Rossi, by any means, but technically, I think the ref made the right call. That’s not to say that Italy did anything to deserve that, but they do have a depressing habit of stealing victory, don’t they? As I said on my blog, though, I don’t think Australia did any thing to warrant winning, either…
Neill did not fly into the tackle!! He had no intention of tackling, he was trying to block what he thought was a shot on goal, it was an opportunity to cheat and rossi took it.
After watching it ten times, my opinion has not changed. The referee was well within the bounds for calling a PK.
Tony is right and its been said a few times in comments to a prior post: Neill was a moron for doing what he did.
Might Rossi have been a “gentleman” and allowed Neill to obstruct him while the Aussies cleared the ball? Been noble about entering 30 minute of OT a man down? Maybe…but I would not have.
Neill offered Rossi the opportunity and Rossi took it. Bravo to Rossi.
My bad, the Italian was Grosso of course, not Rossi.
Tilam
Grosso was Italy’s Rossi yesterday. The comparison is apt. Maybe Tony is being tongue in cheek.
Shourin, you are right. I noticed after hitting “post.” Crap.
Grosso, Rossi, Totti, Toni…crikey, my narrow American mind can’t handle the language barrier.
I have to agree with Tony and Tilam. The referee had an unobstructed view (bresciano or whoever it was ran in front after the whistle was blown)
Grosso certainly made no effort to avoid going down and he could have jumped, but why? The foul was there, he just made sure that it was called.
Everyone talks about the controversy of this call but I don’t see why. Compared to Shevchenkov’s trip in the box, and the Ghanian fold, this is a clear penalty. You may not like it because it looks like Grosso dove, but there can be no denying the fact that Neill went for the ball, missed, and ended up with Grosso in his lap.
Forza Italia!
I’d say stupid challenge by Neill. Poorly timed and sliding tackles like that always carry a high risk of a foul(especially since players these days always seem to dive down whenever they get touched).
As for Grosso. You can clearly see on the video that when he tripped he could have used his right foot to regain his balance but instead he dove and drew the foul.
Neill is an idiot and Grosso is an actor.
Dishonorable win by Italy. tsk tsk tsk. Should’ve went into OT. I didn’t think Australia could have beaten them anyway.
heyz i agree 2 wz Tony and Tilam cz zere was z foul!!!!!!
Is Lucas Neill taken? Because he is the hottest man i have ever known.
Luv ya Lucas 4ever xxxx