Welcome to Soccer 101, the podcast where we endeavour to explain the beautiful game.

On today's episode, we're talking about cheating in soccer. When does it happen? Why does it happen? And what are some of its most famous examples in the game? My name is Ryan Bailey. Given the subject matter, you're probably going to hear me say the words Lewis and Suarez a little bit in this episode. Joining me today we have Taylor Rockwell. You heard him laugh just there. Tatee, hello. Yeah, he's on the list for sure. Hey, buddy. How you doing? I'm very good. I'm glad he's on your list too. Graham Rutherman. How are you, sir? Not bad, Ryan. How are you? I'm very good indeed. It's been a minute since we spoke. It's not as if we just recorded a podcast episode just before this one as well. So it's very nice to hear your Dolcet Tones again.

And of course, those of Mr. Joe Lowry.

Hello, Ryan.

Hello, Joe.

Let's get straight into it.

So cheating in soccer is what we're talking about in this episode.

I don't think we need to explain why it happens, do we?

It's to gain an advantage on the soccer field, essentially.

And is it fair to say, in some soccer cultures, that win at all costs thing is more acceptable than in others?

There's a perception, Graham, perhaps in South America, that there might be some trickier things going on, for example, than elsewhere,

and it's more culturally acceptable. Is that fair to say?

To a certain extent, I'm wary of kind of making any...

Just go ahead and say Latin temper real fast, Graham.

I didn't want to go there, but I'm trying to think of a way of describing the words Lewis and Suarez here.

Yeah, I mean, having through my job watched a lot of Spanish soccer, which obviously is not South American, but borrows a lot in its culture from South America, yeah, I think there's a lot of, a lot of things are deemed as more acceptable in Spanish soccer.

Or not so much acceptable, they are discussed, but seen as part of the game, then maybe

would be the case in the Premier League.

One of the things I was going to mention that is quite common practice in Spain, you

wouldn't call it cheating, but maybe gaming the system a little bit. As in Spain, quite commonly, you'll get a player deliberately getting a yellow card. Say that there is, in two games time, you know, Real Madrid have got the classical against Barcelona and a player is one yellow card away from a, from a suspension. It is quite common for a player to deliberately pick up a yellow card to get the one-match suspension so they're free for the big game. Josimino famously did that a lot of Real Madrid, and that is something that would, I think, would cause a lot of discussion in the English media, but in the Spanish press, it's just kind of accepted as something that happens. I think it's one person's gamesmanship is another person's cheating.

And if you need an example of that, maybe ask Ryan how he feels about Giorgio Kielini these days.

Yeah, yeah.

...