Arturo Vidal Dive Undermines Bayern Munich's Raison D'Etre in DFB-Pokal Win

For many football clubs, success in terms of results is enough. For Bayern Munich, aesthetic quality of football has become a must in recent years, to the point where it has been placed alongside success as a priority.

Last summer, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge made his intentions clear. "Our task is to assemble a team capable of playing successful and attractive football," he said, via the club's official website. And in many ways, Bayern do play very attractive football.

Yet on Tuesday evening, the uglier side of Bayern's game reared its head for the world to see. With the Bavarians 1-0 up against Werder Bremen in their DFB-Pokal semi-final clash and 20 minutes left to be played, Arturo Vidal broke into the penalty area. Janek Sternberg lunged to make a challenge and missed, and the Chilean went down, clutching his ankle and writhing, with a look of agony on his face.

One thing was missing, though: Contact. Vidal had never been touched. Sternberg's challenge was clumsy, but he did it so poorly that he actually slid in front of Vidal.

The Bayern man perhaps saw his opponent had committed to a tackle far too early and tried to use that to his advantage, but he couldn't even draw contact. It was a dive, and a clear one at that.

Trying to con a referee is always ugly, but when Bayern do it, it's especially so. This is a club that walks over sides like Bremen every week, one with a wage bill, transfer budget and squad value that dwarf those of every club it competes against in the German Bundesliga and Pokal. The players don't need to cheat in order to win. But they do, sometimes.

Tuesday's incident wasn't the only time a Bayern player has dived this season. Perhaps most notable was Arjen Robben's dive against Bochum earlier in the Pokal.

In that February match, with Bayern leading the Ruhr side 1-0, Robben went to ground theatrically. Jan Simunek was sent off, and the European giants downed their 2. Bundesliga opponents 3-0.

After the match, Bochum coach Gertjan Verbeek (via the Independent's Simon Rice) said he was "ashamed" to be Dutch following his compatriot's actions, which he labeled a "dive."

In fairness, diving is only given minimal punishment in today's game, and the risk/reward trade-off is skewed to favor unfair practice. A penalty could change a game, but the punishment, a yellow card, rarely does.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Compare this risk/reward balance to a goalkeeper making an honest challenge to deny a striker: If he's a fraction of a second too late and denies a goalscoring chance, the punishment is often triple: a sending-off, suspension and penalty kick.

Simplified, the punishment for trying to con a referee into creating an illegitimate goalscoring opportunity is just a yellow card, while the punishment for (potentially honestly) illegally denying a goalscoring opportunity is a red card, suspension and, in most cases, a goalscoring chance from 11 meters.

Still, although the rules of the game seem to encourage diving, there is a certain drawback for the practice in terms of its public relations. Bayern are viewed by many as predatory, taking advantage of weaker teams in Germany. They don't need help from the referees, and trying actively to get decisions in their favor is just reprehensible.

Right or wrong, this perception is only aggravated by antics like diving. It's embarrassing and unbecoming of a club that supposedly seeks to make its football as attractive as it is successful.

Before diving next, Vidal, Robben and the others should ask themselves: Is it really worth it?

@Mr_Bundesliga