No. Sorry, that was a foul imo. Robben made the most of it but you wouldn't expect him to ride that - it was inside the box in the 92nd minute ffs. Once the defender planted his foot out like that and made contact it's game over. Tough on the Mexicans but well done Holland. You won't get many tougher games. Agreed, Kuyt was fantastic.
Could have been penalties given to both teams up till the non penalty... absolutely no contact whatsoever
Slow mo shows minimal contact if any and lays his leg on him. in no way is that a penalty. in the first have a guy gets his head kicked off anywhere alse on the pitch it is a free kick. piss poor refereeing. All bar the idiot childes have said it wasnt a penalty. No one will ever convince me that it should have been given.
I can fully understand why people think otherwise but if you step on another player's toe it's a foul. Would be outside the box and should be inside too. Riding challenges is commendable (Messi does it all the time) but if that was a Swans player in the 92nd minute of the FA Cup Final what would you think if he didn't make the most of an unfair challenge? No brainer. Btw I agree Robben dives too much at times.
Jesus guys if that is a pen then there should be about 20 to 30 every game. Any touch on another player then should result in a penalty and you must be a fantastic athlete and throw yourself 30 foot in the air.
Looking at the refs position and the speed of movement of both Robben and the defenders leg movement I can see why he gave it , poor defending although tiredness may have been a factor .
I dont think it was a pen but when a defender stretches out a leg like that he is asking for trouble. Well done my Dutch boys (and girls)
I've watched Robben place his foot or kick the ball at defenders hands , inside the box , a thousand times ,. In all his ability , he is what is wrong with the "World Game " and why people will only take to the game every 4 years and leave it behind the rest of the time .
If that was the only part of his game then I may agree with you , but still a fantastic talent and ageing nicely
**** me Holland were lucky.....shocking, totally unacceptable defending from Mexico at the corner with 4 minutes to go.....then the ref gives that shameful, cheating **** a penalty. Mexico would have gone further to the semis as well I reckon....the No.20 who was ambling about on the edge of the box when he should have been looking for his man and the second ball needs a Bony size cock up his arse for that. What I don't get about the ref in that game is that Robben was diving virtually every time he got into the box, theatrically (and appealing for the pen), but the ref didn't give one of them.....so why wasn't he booked for diving and then sent off the next time? A technically excellent, hard working, ambitious team (a proper ****ing team) were robbed as a result and I for one (when asked in the future about him) will never describe Robben as a "great player"....it makes me that angry. That constant diving today was as bad, for me, as Suarez' bite....cheating is cheating.
I agree he does it - and does it too much. Really annoying. But he also sometimes gets unwarranted stick too. Players who travel at pace get knocked over easily and this guy is the fastest on the planet at 37 mph. Bale ring a bell? But refs being what they are they simply won't give anything unless they are certain they've seen it. On the incident Robben's foot was trod on. That's a foul. That's a pen. Had he ridden it and the attack had petered out I wouldn't have been happy if I was a Holland fan. It's not as if he wasn't fouled- he was. 92nd minute at that stage of the WC can't blame him.
Mexico were very unlucky. Agree with all who criticise Robben. He has undoubted talent but why all the diving?! Drives me bonkers. Even if he's genuinely fouled, if he leaps in the air the ref should wave play on. Arsehole. The standard of reffing is wildly inconsistent.
So what about the kick in the head on the Mexican striker.. What about the shirt pulling. If Robben fell over honestly as a result of that challenge then he has no balance,we all know there was hardly and i still say this if any contact and he made a meal of it if that had been on the halfway line he would of stayed on his feet and gone on the attack. I still stand by what I say that was no penalty and it seems that most of the pundits are in agreement. It is a shame that somone so talented has to cheat constantly. He has admitted to diving in the game. Should that not result in a ban.
