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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Rules, Fouls & Match Time

Dive

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/daɪv/verbCommon term

In football (soccer), dive means: To fall on purpose as if fouled, to trick the referee into giving a free kick or penalty; the official name for this is simulation.

In Turkish: kendini yere atmak, simülasyon yapmak

How it is used

Fans accuse players of diving, and referees book them for simulation. British English uses dived as the past tense; American English also uses dove. Goalkeepers dive too, but that is a normal movement to reach the ball.

Example sentences

  1. He dived in the box and got a yellow card for simulation.

  2. Stay on your feet; don't dive looking for a penalty.

Common collocations

  • accused of diving
  • dive in the box
  • booked for diving
  • simulation
  • bookingA caution shown with a yellow card, which the referee writes down in a notebook; to be booked means to receive a yellow card.
  • penaltyA shot at goal from the penalty spot, 11 metres (12 yards) from the goal line, given when a defender commits a direct free-kick offence inside their own penalty area.
  • yellow cardA card the referee shows to caution a player for offences such as reckless tackles, time-wasting or dissent; a second one in the same match means a red card.
  • VARVideo assistant referee: officials who watch replays and advise the referee about clear and obvious errors in key, match-changing situations.

More terms: Rules, Fouls & Match Time

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