Paul Lewis: Cheats thrive as World Cup takes a dive

So it's farewell tomorrow morning to the World Cup and, after thoroughly enjoyable early rounds, it will not be missed.

The plain fact is that three solid weeks of this kind of football is hard to take. Captivating at first, the 2006 World Cup descended back into the morass which reminds you of the rotten core at the heart of the top level of the game.

This is not an attack on football. The game remains the most popular on the planet and will continue to be so. But, at the top level of club play around the world and at international level, the game is blighted by the cheating of players.

They consistently try to bend or escape the rules - and top players such as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo bring attitudes to the field that are wearying and depressing.

The World Cup should be a carnival of football and was, for a while at least. But when Italy makes a final with its senior clubs, administrators, officials and players simultaneously embroiled in what seems to be a grievous match-fixing scandal involving money and big names; when they get past Australia with a dodgy penalty; and when France joins them on the back of another dubious penalty - both gained by the attacking player involved throwing themselves to the ground as if hit by a passing lorry - that also helps the delight of the World Cup turn to distaste.

The referees have obviously re-thought their dictum that diving players would be yellow-carded after policing this rigorously in the opening rounds. Shame. It would have been good to see the operatics of the Portuguese punished further by a jaundice of yellow cards.

Bereft of talented attacking and goalscoring players, Ronaldo aside, the Portuguese took to flinging themselves about during their semi-final with France and then looked outraged at the lack of a free kick or penalty. This isn't sport, it's confidence tricks.

Ronaldo is among the worst. Not content with being a big girl's blouse who blubs openly when eliminated from any big tournament or match, Ronaldo seems blissfully unaware that his penchant for doing running dives with a double pike and a half twist is so well known among referees and opponents that it is actually working against him.

Still, his persistence is only consistent with his game, based on deceit and trickery. He does more step-overs than a pedestrian in a London street which has a lot of dogs with diarrhoea.

It's a shame one with so much talent feels it necessary to become involved in advising the referee on what action to take over Rooney, earning a shove from the latter that sealed a red card and then winking to his mates. Puerile, distasteful stuff which has about as much to do with sport as taxidermy.

As fitting an end as that would be to Ronaldo - there were any number of England supporters telling him to get stuffed - no one could really blame Ronaldo for Rooney's behaviour. That's all his own doing.

England's own Mr Angry got into a legs-and-feet tangle with a Portuguese defender and ended up planting his boot firmly between the opponent's legs where it seemed to connect with his, er, meat and two veg. In the ensuing melee, Ronaldo came up to throw in his ten cents' worth and succeeded in winding up Mr Angry to give him a shove.

The ref said 'Roonaldo' was going anyway for the stomp. Later Rooney said he would not apologise for the stomp on Chelsea and Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho as he had not intended to harm him.

Yet Rooney's body language - he had been roughed up himself by fouls just prior to the incident - was that of an angry man.

Some will seek to excuse Ronaldo and Roonaldo by saying they are just young men who made a mistake - and who among us has not learned from their errors?

Horse hockey. Rooney has been down this road many, well-publicised times. Controlling his temper was a must. Opponents would obviously seek to spark it and refs to punish it.

It isn't youthful innocence. It's just dumb. As is his stubborn refusal to admit any wrongdoing.

It is also a sign of some of the rot within football - young men of moderate intelligence paid too much money and who believe that they can do what they want, when they want.

Ronaldo is another who springs from football's creche for spoiled brats. All too aware of his appearance and his very real skill, Ronaldo somehow manages to avoid entrancing us and instead antagonises and irritates - even before his great, wracking sobs because someone took his trophy.

It's because he's forgotten the essence of sport, even professional sport, which is based on winning, yes, but also fair play, enjoyment and respect for the rules, opponents and team-mates.

No, farewell to the World Cup, where footballers fall down with flailing limbs like an octopus in a blender. I'm going back to rugby, which makes no bones about being a contact sport.

All right, there might be theodd bit of subtle 'cheating' - ifyou can call it that - at ruck or scrum or lineout but you rarely see anyone trying to con the ref thatthey have been almost murdered during the game.

No, give me a game where the players are gladiators, not gladioli.