Euro 2008: A shirt pull too far

We see it in every game. It's a corner or free kick and defenders jostle for places with the opposing strikers. Often an arm around the chest or a hand on the shoulder. Anything to gain an advantage. Even a tug on the shirt.

It happens in every game without fail. But is it legal? Surely, it can't be. It is so common that referees and officials turn a blind eye to it. Sometimes even delaying the taking of the kick to ask the players to stop. Finally, Howard Webb had the courage to award a penalty for a blatant foul.

Poland led through a first-half Roger Guerriero strike. With 92 minutes on the clock, a free kick was awarded to Austria. As the ball was launched in to Pole's box, Mariusz Lewandowski pulled Sebastian Proedl to the ground by grabbing his shirt. The subsequent penalty was perfectly executed by 38-year-old Ivica Vastic (who is now the oldest goal scorer in the championship's history).

Leo Beenhakker, the manager on the receiving end of the penalty, was fuming.

I cannot, for the life of me, see what there is to complain about. Replays prove that Howard Webb was 100 percent correct to award the foul. The only (pathetically weak) defence anyone can possibly have is "if that is a penalty, then there should be 10 given in every game!"

If it requires 10 penalties a game to stop this going on, then so be it. It is a foul. Just because it's in the box and happens regularly does not (or rather should not!) devalue it.

If you grab a striker in the box, you must be prepared to accept the consequences if the referee sees it and has the bottle to correctly award a penalty.

A foul is a foul. These sneaky, illegal tricks, coupled with diving (or simulation, as the limp wristed politically correct governors of football call it) are beginning to ruin the beautiful game.

Play hard. Play aggressively, but play fair.

Officials must step in and assist the honest players out there. If you want to kick or trip somebody, that is fine. But rules must be adhered to and a foul must be given.