Brow Beat

Dive of the Day: Slovakia’s Miroslav Stoch

For the duration of the World Cup, Slate will highlight the greatest dives by the world’s greatest players. We’ll score each dive in three categories: level of actual contact (1 if there’s no contact at all, 10 for a huge collision), level of simulated contact (1 for a stoic response, 10 for acting as if you’ve been shot), and dive duration (the time from first contact to when the player gets off the ground).

The Italians, soccer’s most notorious divers, got a taste of their own medicine Thursday. With Slovakia clinging to a 3-2 lead in added time, midfielder Miroslav Stoch absorbed what looked like an accidental bump by Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. Stoch fell, curled up into the fetal position, and stalled for time until the referee scolded him. The Italians, unable to execute what would’ve been an epic comeback, were eliminated from the World Cup with the loss .

Level of actual contact: 4
Level of simulated contact: 8
Dive duration: a bout 20 seconds

If you see a particularly egregious dive in a World Cup match, please e-mail diveoftheday@gmail.com . Make sure to include the names of the players involved and the time of the game when the dive occurred.