Another excellent example of why America is never going to take to international soccer on a consistent basis. I don't think that the flops steal the game from the US, but they are simply so ludicrous - and often honored by referees - that American fans cannot take the competition seriously.
There is a steady undercurrent of complaint about flopping in basketball and stars who get the benefit of calls. That puts off a fair percentage of American fans who prefer to follow college ball instead. Soccer so far exceeds this that it becomes vaudevillian. What a joke.
Just needs to be marketed like "professional studio wrestling" as they used to call 888 Yong Street (CBC production in the '60s). "Everyone knows" TV's professional wrestling is fake. But that doesn't stop folks from enloying it. There's even a similarity to the soccer (oops--Futbol) crowds' actions and reactions and those of the wrestling audience's to the spectacle before them.
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