[RichDad]

Conspiracy theories sprung up soon after Argentina was awarded a penalty in the 22 minute of the first period. Lionel Messi then stepped up to convert the spot-kick to give the Albiceleste an early 1-0 lead.

That black guy who ‘tripped’ Argentina’s Angel Di Maria in the penalty box is Ousmane Dembele. Sceptics immediately took to Twitter in outrage, alleging that Di Maria had dived. When “soft touched” by Ousmane Dembele, he exaggerated his movements by falling and landing awkwardly, which had the referee and even the VAR fooled. Some critical observers claimed that Di Maria has for years been an expert at diving in his opponents’ penalty box in order to earn spot-kicks.
 
Diving, a yellow card offence, is the opposite of professional fouls that are made on purpose to prevent an opposing player from scoring. These are some of the tricks of footballers’ trade, especially those who are determined to win by hook or by crook.
 
When all is said and done, I think it isn’t easy to adjudge, even with a slow motion replay, whether Di Maria got tripped by Ousmane or he’d actually dived. The key to this riddle is whether the physical contact made to Di Maria was hard or very light, something that we won’t know except Maria himself. Anyway, Angel Di Maria is widely considered one of the greatest players of his generation. True to form, he scored a brilliant second goal before being substituted just before half-time.
 

Dembelle and Di Maria are probably in cahoots. Good acting skills needed.