C'mon, spit it out

I thought that long-time reader Kent from Oregon raised such an interesting issue in his comment earlier, that I'm going to reproduce his point in full here:

Really, I'm wondering why players would ever put up with this? Soccer culture question: I get, but loathe, the rolling around and feigning injury by players. I don't get why players would ever tolerate someone spitting in their face and not doing anything about it? I don't like Diego Costa and all his (insert bad word here) antics and pretending, but the Betis player (I missed who) who came from off the screen and spit A LOT directly on Costa's cheek... absolutely unacceptable and, to be polite, childish. Not to sound like the aggressive American here, but if a player did that openly to another player over here, there'd be hell to pay. Check that, if just about anyone spit in another person's face over here, it would be a near immediate fight. It doesn't get much lower than spitting in someone's face. Costa? He just took it and complained to the referee again. I wonder sometimes if the play acting so many of these players do just disguises them from being such softies (polite words, right?). Imagine someone spitting on Vinnie Jones or Roy Keane? At some point, what's a fine. I'd like to see more of these guys stand up for themselves in a real way.

So, what do we all think? Was Amaya justified in sending a mouthful of saliva Diego Costa's way on the grounds that 1) he's on our side, and 2) Diego Costa is a horrible weasel? Or should he have just swung an elbow, knocked out a couple of teeth and taken the red card? And what would you do if someone spat in your face? Wobble your lower lip and call the teacher over like our Brazilian friend did?

From an Anglo-Saxon point of view, there's little more disgusting than being spat at, so I won't have much sympathy for Antonio Amaya when he gets the ban that they say is headed his way. As Kent points out, his action just seemed a bit childish. But if he'd gone for a studs-up last-minute hang-the-consequences lunge at any random point below Costa's waist, I don't suppose I'd have had too many objections. He who lives by the sword and all that... What do you reckon?

Comments

[Linus]

Amayas spitting in his face was disgraceful, but so was also Costas tackle on Perez. He also did more stuff that was disgraceful, that dirty pig Costa. I wish Amaya had broken Costas leg or something, instead of spitting in his face.

There is no other player on this earth that i hate more than Costa to be honest.

[James]

Diego Costa is a professional wind up merchant. The reason he didn't get angry when Amaya spat on him because that's all part of the game for him - he said so himself after the game. He does anything to win and leaves it on the pitch.

He has absolutely destroyed Betis in the past two years (Marca are calling it el síndrome Diego Costa)because we keep getting caught up in antics rather than ignoring him and playing him like any other opponent - ie the superior Falcao who was kept quiet last night. Someone asked Pepe Mel in the press conference yesterday why the Betis players were more concerned with Diego Costa than winning the game. A very good question.

They lost focus. Costa scored again and they won.

Costa was trying all his antics against Pepe and Ramos in the Madrid derby. They ignored him, marked him out of the game, won and even embraced him after the game despite his behaviour... better tactics?

[BeticoIrlandés]

Spitting on him is disgusting, he is an absolute gypo (costa) but the best way to get him is the swinging elbow when jumping for the ball, standing on ankles or going over the ball, he's a la liga defender I'm sure he's got even more tricks up his sleeve that can be done with a maximum of a yellow! Now he faces prob a 3-5 ban, betis tactic shud be hit him then take the yellow and switch the player and hit him again ad take the yellow again!! Anyway, thankfully we don't have to play them again this season because they have been responsible for the drop in form of betis! Onwards and upwards we go, Musho betis!!

[Javier]

That was disgusting,Amaya lost control.We havent got a weapon to play within the legality against that kind of scummy player that is costa.

[Bill Mill]

No, of course it was unacceptable what Amaya did, and it makes me strongly dislike him. It's one thing to make strong, legal, challenges in the game, but another entirely to disrespect a person like that. I wouldn't have blamed Diego Costa for socking him, I can't imagine that I would take that so calmly.

[ahsan]

personally i think Amaya lost any moral standing when he spat. there is no place in life for spitting at a fellow human being....and hats off to DC for not reacting in a violent/negative way. i for one would have walked away and it does not show weakness to do so. there is a lot of kidology in the modern game and it is no wonder our children imatate their idols in the school playground. would we allow them to spit on their contemporaries if they see it on tv? i for one would hit Amaya with a 10 game ban and fine him 4 weeks salary. harsh, but it would stop this sort of behaviour dead!

[Kent]

El síndrome Diego Costa, that's pretty good.

I'm not condoning boxing on the soccer field, but, my goodness, that was ridiculous. In England on Sunday, someone from West Brom (?) got straight red for spitting what looked like dehydrated mist in the direction of his rival. Sports over here aren't saintly either, I'm not saying that at all, and football (American version) has nasty stuff going on it it too.

My five minutes, right? Actually the play that most makes me yell at the TV (and show my kids what to avoid doing) is when players stop playing, waive their hands around for offsides, and hope they get the referees attention to a play that is already past. Meanwhile, play hasn't stopped at all. See: Suarez, Luis, most Liverpool games.

Maybe Amaya losing control underscores the fact that the game wasn't fixed...at least not by him. (Anyone here read Declan Hill's The Fix?)

[Ben ISF]

What Amaya did was a disgrace, in my view you don't get much lower than spitting in someones face. He needs to be fined and banned because the example that sets for children is terrible. I agree with Bill Mill, but why didn't Diego Costa react? It's because that's exactly what he was playing for the whole game, then he can take the moral high ground afterwards. Betis fell for his antics like little children. A few STRONG challenges on him by different players would have done much better. They took it too far and forget to play football and try and win the game which is highly lamentable.
As for Costa, there's winding people up then there's making horrible challenges, and the one on Perez could have easily been a leg breaker.

[ahsan]

DC is no angel and our chicos know him from his days in the various clubs spain.why did they get sucked into his web, well, i would put it down to naivety.i'm sure there are others in la liga who are also windup merchants. has DC shown other teams how to un-focus real betis! pepe mel and his staff have a lot of work to do. musho beti

[Noel]

I hated what Amaya did last night but I hate Costa more. It is unfortunate that Amaya, Cañas and others got sucked into the tribal revulsion of that little prick but it is not surprising. It takes incredible strength not to react as our players did but I can forgive that as this was only a display of the frustration all Beticos felt. Amaya may have had more personal reasons to hate DC but the incident was, at best, unprofessional and ultimately embarrassing.
Costa's reaction demonstrated what a snivelling little rat he is. Amaya (who has had a great run to keep Paulão out), would have come out of the game with much more dignity had he put in one or two more tackles like the one in the penalty area that made me scream in ecstasy. Another of those might have ended Costa's antagonising behaviour.
Let's put this sorry episode behind us and get back to winning ways.