Dive of the year contender right here.
We’ve seen some great dives over the years. Arjen Robben’s famous fall against Mexico in the World Cup; Rivaldo’s decision to collapse as if he had been shot against Turkey, these are but two examples of quality diving in football.
But now it would seem that we have a new contender in the stakes for best simulation of all time. The setting? Greek Superleague. The culprit? Marko Marin. The incident? A slide tackle you might assume, perhaps even a shove from an opponent. You would be wrong however.
During the latter minutes of Olympiakos’ game away to Apollon Smyrni, referee Alexandros Katsikogiannis waved away appeals by the furious guests, who were adamant that they should have been awarded a penalty.
Surrounded in a manner reminiscent of referees whenever a Manchester United team had a decision go against them in the 1990s, Katsikogiannis was evidently nonplussed as he almost literally swatted away the protests.
As he nudged away the Olympiakos players with ease most responded in a normal manner, standing on their feet like bipedal mammals capable of maintaining their balance, until Marko Marin came into frame.
The German international went toe to toe with the referee, screaming into the official’s face, before receiving a hand on his chest and falling as if a trap door had opened up beneath him, leaving him falling thousands of feet to his untimely death.
He remained on the ground, presumably with grievous injuries to chest and internal organs, as his teammates protested further.
Now while one would assume this is the strangest part of the story, it’s in fact just the starter. Because, as it turns out, Marin has announced plans to file a lawsuit against the referee.
This is an odd situation, for sure, but we’d like to thank both the referee and Marin for freshening up the entire diving scene. It had been a little stale, a touch old, but they’ve injected new life into it with their escapades, and we couldn’t be happier.
