We've Had an All-Time Soccer Flop in The CONCACAF Champions Cup Last Night

I know "truly all-time soccer flop" is a heck of a high bar to live up to. In the world of sports "achievements", that's about as difficult as any to reach. But after watching this 5 minute Best Flops Soccer, Best Fake Injuries Football compilation… the flop by this Tigres player in the CONCACAF Champions Cup isn't the most embarrassing of the bunch, but it certainly holds its own.

I'm always intrigued by the thought process behind a flop. Or the "psychology of a flop", for lack of a more appropriate phrase. They're embarrassing as all hell. They completely shameless. But I do think they come from place of ultra competitiveness. Because when you boil it all down, if refs aren't punishing players for flopping on a consistent basis (which they rarely seem to do), you could almost spin flopping as a selfless act. The flopper is doing everything in his power to give his team an advantage, no matter how utterly pathetic it makes him look. You could almost call it noble. In some ways, with all the criticism he's taken at the expense of flopping, LeBron James is basically a hero.

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Ok just kidding about that last part. Except when you watch LeBron's greatest flops alongside soccer's greatest flops, it makes "LeFlop" look like hard nosed 90's NBA player. 

We always shit on players for flopping in games, which they absolutely deserve, but it's really the refs (and the leagues as a whole) who deserve the brunt of blame. Until they give players a real reason to stop, and make it so the risk actually outweigh the reward, players are never going to quit. In the heat of a game, if a player with the flopping gene thinks he can gain an advantage, any semblance of personal pride they have left just flies out the window. They'll start rolling around the pitch like they've just been shot the second they're about to lose the ball. And it will always be both hilarious and infuriating.