Archer‘s bow

Apart from a spectacular goal, nothing in soccer gives me more pleasure than when a diving player gets a yellow card. Thanks to two researchers in non-verbal communication at Portsmouth University, there is reason to believe I will get to enjoy more of this.

The pair has namely worked out that a person who actually falls will instinctively move his hands downwards to either brake the fall or protect the body. No way will he fling his arms up over his shoulders, arch his back to expose his chest to harm and bend his legs backwards, as Mr Rooney demonstrates in the image.

So my hope is that referees, armed with this knowledge, will more easily spot divers and whip out the yellow card. Then all they need to do is score some more goals and soccer will be worth watching again.