Percy writes:
Since every player has a right to his place on the pitch, in a set play, especially a free kick like this one where the defense really needs to create a line of its own players, how do opposing players settle who gets a place they both want?
It's a gentlemen's agreement where the defense gets to set up their wall and the offense can fill in around it.
Some of the holding I saw in the box that wasn't called was extreme, sometimes very much like a bear hug. Do refs tend to ignore fouls when there's no harm (in the run of play) or injury?
Excessive holding that prevents a scoring chance will be penalized while holding away from the play will not. The penalty awarded to Kane was a perfect example where the ball was kicked in his direction.
Most of all, referees really don't want to call a penalty shot because they don't want to be the difference makers in the match. All the players know that they can get away with murder as long as it is away from the ball.
Not that some of the play acting at the World Cup wasn't pretty bad, too. Wide receivers in American Football wear very little padding (because it slows them down and makes them less agile), and they usually pop up from violent contact time and again. Soccer players go down (first launching themselves into the air to make the fall more spectacular is common) and roll around in supposed great pain on the slightest pretext. I've been hit hard occasionally during athletics, and rolling around in pain isn't the response.
There is a part of me that wishes football (i.e. soccer) players would suddenly find themselves in a rugby match. Those dudes are some of the toughest athletes I have ever seen.
™ Version 4.2